


The One With the Harun-El

by Promsie



Series: Glory Days [2]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: DCYE-Universe, F/F, Feelings, Heavy Angst, Smut, Smut and Filth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-06-29 09:07:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 56,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15726306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Promsie/pseuds/Promsie
Summary: A mysterious meteor crashes in the Californian desert and of course Reign just has to touch it.Alex is plagued by a very dirty dream, one day finding herself confronted with said dream becoming reality.However, as the saying goes: Be careful what you whish for!Alex comes to experiencing first-hand that in every saying there is a grain of truth and she will regret ever making that whish.





	1. The Dream

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys, this is the second part of the Glory Days-series taking place in the 'Don't Close your Eyes'-Universe. It takes place ten months after the events in DCYE.
> 
> What you NOT need: Is reading DCYE to understand this story but it helps with the references.  
> What you DO need: Sam and Reign merged and are actively sharing a body. This story contains established Danvarias (Sam/Alex), Agentreign (Reign/Alex) and minor, established Supercorp. After the finale against the other Worldkillers Sam's consciousness was lost for two months and Alex and Reign thought she was dead. All four members of the Danvers-Arias family go to therapy.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own anything except the plot.

* * *

 

Dreams are a peculiar thing.

Sometimes they make no sense at all, are nothing but a vortex of colors and emotions without any order. _Sometimes_ , though, they are like a movie, crystal clear and coherent and the dreamer is the director, yielding absolute control. Alex’ dreams have the rare quality of running in slow motion, at least the ones of a very _special_ kind.

The first thing she always sees, is a patch of soft, tanned skin. It’s the slope of a neck in which she buried her nose. Warm and sweet. Then she slowly begins to lean back, the process is the same each time, it never changes. Sam is looking up at her with dark, half-lidded eyes. Molten amber or gold or something in between. She is never quite sure. For a second though, her eyes are all she sees, drawing her in, making her drown in a sea of the color she cannot describe, telling her _I want you_ and _I love you_. Alex hopes her own eyes are the same, that when Sam has such a dream, she will look at her with the same mix of _desire_ and _affection_ in her own hazel eyes.

They are both naked, Alex is straddling her lap, her arms curled around Sam’s shoulders, her fingers holding onto messy, chestnut curls and they are both rocking back and forth slightly. Their bodies moving in sync, in tandem, when one sinks down and pushes forward the other answers by pushing up. Sam has her hands on Alex’ hips, sometimes they wander up, up to her shoulders blades, sometimes down until they cup the curve of Alex’ ass.

There is room for variation in the dream, though, not for much because no matter where her hands are, sooner or later Sam leans up and they kiss. Slow and sensual, _just_ slow motion, _just_ short of making Alex dizzy because Sam’s kisses leave her breathless so very often. Her voice never sounds like her own, when Sam tightens her hold, lowering her mouth to her chest, kissing the sensitive skin between her breasts, flicking a hot, wet tongue over her nipple: “Sam…”

She sounds like a _stranger_ without being able to say why. Maybe because the surreality of this dream is that she simultaneously is the one _making_ love and the one _watching_. The heat collects piercing and sweet in her abdomen, makes her breath labored and her hold on her girlfriend tighter, makes her arch her chest further out, out against this warm, wet tongue. Her head falls back, her eyes squeezing shut on their own accord and under her fingertips, resting on the spot between Sam’s jaw and her neck, Sam’s heartbeat is steady and sure.

And always when she thinks that Sam will soon have mercy on her, that she will _oh_ so soon _enter_ her and _fill_ her and make her fall apart, a second pair of arms wraps around her. Hands sneak across her ribcage and her hipbones, _stronger_ than Sam’s, _rougher_ than Sam’s.

By pushing her breasts more into the warm mouth, she simultaneously falls back against the hard body behind her. One hand comes to rest under her chin, around her throat, tilting her head back until her lips find a second eager mouth.

“Reign,” Alex whispers, so close to the Worldkiller that she surely can taste her own name on her own lips.

Reign’s hair falls onto her shoulder, tickling her softly and her breath mingles with Alex’ and her calm heartbeat echoes in Alex’ ribcage. She still has one hand in Sam’s hair and the other around Reign’s neck, holding and touching them both at the same time and it must be the _best_ feeling in the world.

In some versions, Reign laces her fingers with Alex’ on top of Sam’s head and _pulls_ while one of Sam’s hands wanders from around Alex’ waist around Reign’s and _pulls_ , too and she is trapped between them, surrounded everywhere by their skin and their scent and their movements. Being stuck between them like this is the most _delicious_ part of this phantasy, the part Alex wants to repeat again and again or put on hold forever because Sam and Reign are everywhere. Kissing her, caressing her, one of them sweet and gentle in the front and one rigid and rough behind and Alex is suspended between them, suspended in pleasure.

There is always the moment when she thinks that she cannot take more teasing, that she is close to _dissolving_ in their embrace because, oh _sweet_ love, they are touching and sucking and licking _all_ the right places, _all_ the right spots that drive her _mad_ with want. Except for one. And when she thinks, she will pass out any second, Reign’s hand dibs low between her legs and Sam’s pushes up and into her and Alex cries out and-

.

 

Drenched in sweat, heart pounding like a drum, Alex jerks up in bed.

Gasping and with blood rushing in her ears, she clasps a hand over her mouth. Carefully, she looks to the left, where Sam is supposed to lie but she is alone. Still catching her breath, she lets a hand run over the covers.

They are still warm.

Her chest doesn’t stop heaving as she casts a quick glance through the bedroom. The door to the adjacent bathroom is slightly ajar and the familiar clatter of Sam’s morning routine reaches her burning ears. With a long sigh, Alex falls back into the cushions. She has one arm across her face, hiding the shameful expression behind it while her other hand rests on her stomach. The middle and index finger _itch_ to move southward, though, she doesn’t have to feel for it with her fingers, like this she feels perfectly well how wet she is. She groans. This _damn_ dream.

Don’t get her wrong. Alex loves the two of them individually and equally and if she ever had to choose between Sam and Reign, well frankly she couldn’t. As much as she is all for equality especially in her current relationship, the very unique circumstances of said relationship prevent one of her _innermost_ desires to be satisfied. She can _never_ have Sam and Reign at the same time, will _never_ feel the sensation on her skin when both of them touch her, will _never_ see them lying side by side on a bed in all their gorgeousness, will _never_ taste them, and kiss them and hold them in the same moment. She knows it is _pathetic_ in a way, that she is simply asking _too_ much but ever since Brainiac made it possible for Alex to enter Sam’s mind a year ago and pulled them out when things were finally getting steamy, she is _stuck_ with this phantasy.

A year ago, shortly before Pestilence and Purity brought hell onto National City, she had been so close, so _very_ close to everything she never knew she wanted with Reign and Sam. All she has since then are _memories_ and _phantasies_ and at times the wish to repeat that moment again on Krypton, the Krypton inside Sam’s head, is so overwhelming that it renders Alex speechless and thoughtless and the desire makes her almost _combust_.

In the last couple of weeks, those phantasies got so vivid that she has the most _delicious_ sex-dream of her life. Almost every night.

And it’s driving her _crazy_ because she cannot have what she is dreaming about. Because Sam and Reign only have _one_ body and Brainiac returned to the future six months ago and her girlfriends always understandably react allergic when someone only mentions the word _split_. Even though Alex has been so preoccupied with her phantasy that a recruit almost broke her nose two days ago, she would never secretly work on a way to separate Sam and Reign. Never. Because no matter how _desperate_ she wishes sometimes to fall asleep in both their arms, their connection is something she will _never_ understand, the intimacy, the closeness and respecting their wish is the least she can do as their girlfriend. Consequently, this means that all she can do is enduring her own horniness until the phantasy loses its intensity.

She blinks when she hears the bathroom door. The next moment, Sam sits on the edge of the bed, dressed in one of her power-suits and ready for the day. Softly, she kisses Alex’ forehead: “Morning.”

Vehemently, Alex chases the dream out of her head or she couldn’t look at her: “Morning,” she responds, sounding more _croaked_ and _raspier_ than usually at this hour.

Sam looks at her with a worried glance: “Do you feel alright? Your face is hot.”

She puts a hand against Alex’ cheek and the sweet gesture is enough to make her gulp.

She turns her head to kiss her palm, mumbling: “I feel fine. Don’t worry. Will I see you at lunch?”

Sam strokes a thumb over her cheek for a while before answering. They fell in a routine, somehow, without having it planned, that they always try to meet for lunch. Alex rarely _ever_ can make a scheduled lunch break, especially not since the DEO has so many gang crimes to handle and Sam, in all honesty, simply _forgets_ most of the time and not even Reign can convince her to eat if it is just the two of them.

So, they surprise each other with food as often as they can not only to make sure they are eating enough but also because their days are long and often stressful and sometimes they only see each other when they leave the house together in the morning. Those lunch dates, therefore, are something like a holy ritual. On some days, though, the world is clearly against them and lunch falls through.

Sam shakes her head: “Today is bad. I have conferences scheduled for the whole morning and must finish a couple of reports.”

Alex furrows her brows.

“I’m sorry, baby.”

She puts one hand next to Alex’ shoulder, balancing her weight on it and leans down. Alex meets her halfway in a soft kiss, arms curling around the brunette’s shoulders:

“It’s ok. Last week was my fault.”

Last week they didn’t sleep in the same bed for three days because she was stuck in the city center with surveillance work.

Sam gives her another kiss: “Ruby has after school activities today so, she won’t be home before three.”

Alex gently messages Sam’s neck: “Ok. Lena comes over later.”

Sam nods, letting out a pleasant hum: “Reign is on patrol with Kara tonight. I’ll be home late.”

Alex pulls her down again with her arms, whispers: “Ok,” and “I’ll miss you,” against Sam’s lips before kissing her again. _Longer_ this time and _deeper_ , pushing her tongue into Sam’s mouth and sucking on her bottom lip. The dream lurks somewhere in the back of her head, but she can silence it, angles her head instead to keep Sam with her _just_ a little longer. Eventually, they have to part because they run out of air. Alex stares up at her lazily and dazed whereas Sam grins, her eyes flashing. She gets a hold of Alex’ wrists, pins them over her head, husking right next to her sensitive ear:

“You have lipstick all over your face.”

Alex lets out an embarrassed yelp then Sam pecks her again, saying: “See you later, baby. Love you.”

“Love you, too,” she mumbles and watches how her girlfriend leaves the bedroom.

When she hears the front door opening and closing not much later and the engine of the Chrysler, she rolls on her stomach and empties her sexual frustration into the pillow in a long, _long_ groan.

 

* * *

 

 

Reign loves flying.

When she is up in the air, she has the feeling that her mind finds _rest_ and _peace_ , that the borders of her own body become meaningless and that she fuses with the atmosphere. Flying allows her to connect with the world, with Earth around her in a way that she cannot even describe, like she _hears_ and _senses_ everything at once and the time when this overwhelmed her is long gone.

Flying is also freedom.

Before she merged with Sam, those moments were the ones in which she was able to _truly_ feel like herself, powerful, invincible and in control. Like she wasn’t a caged animal in the dark valley. Since they merged, the need to reassure herself that she is an independent person isn’t as strong anymore. She doesn’t have to _steal_ Sam’s body anymore, doesn’t have to _crush_ bones and skulls anymore to feel _real_. There are people in her life now, who make sure that she feels _real_ , that she is a person all by herself and not just a fraction of someone else’s consciousness.

 She has friends now, a family: the people at the DEO, the child, Kara Danvers and reluctantly she must admit that Lena Luthor belongs to this circle of special people, too. Although she would never admit that. And above all there is Sam, of course, who is always _with_ her, who she is always _with_ , who Reign shares everything with: her body, her thoughts, her emotions and her love. They are a tightly interwoven unit, so close to each other that it sometimes is difficult even for them to keep their two minds apart. Another thing that she would never admit is that therapy actually helps with that. And lastly there is Alexandra, the light of her life, her _everything_. The one person who believed in her before there was _anything_ to believe in. The person who saw something good in her long before she ever did _anything_ close to good. The person who loves her even though Reign doesn’t understand what it means, even though she isn’t sure that she has _anything_ to give back.

There are days when she selfishly wishes to be released from the bound with her host because there are stretches of time, long stretches of time in her perception, during which Sam must stay in control and Reign languishes for Alexandra, is yearning to be close to _her_ human. Though, at the end of those days, when the three or rather two are lying in bed, tangled up in each other and the sheets and no one can tell where Sam ends, and Alexandra begins, she always realizes she would not want to have her own body, that she already has all she wants and needs.

“ **My, my are we being philosophical tonight**?” Sam chuckles in her head.

Reign shakes herself in mid-air. Nope. She wouldn’t have it _any_ other way. The pain of when they all thought that Sam was lost forever after the fight with her sisters, Purity and Pestilence, has never _quite_ left Reign. She has felt empty like never before in her life and by the grace of Yuda Kal, she never wants to feel like that again. She puts a hand over her chest, reaches inward, reaches out for Sam.

“I’ve just been thinking how everything turned out in the past months.”

Her life turned completely inside out in the course of twelve months: in the winter two years ago, she had wanted to make the world burn for its sins. She had been _blind_ with rage and fury, _blinded_ by ghosts of people who manipulated and used her, she had been lost. Until Alexandra found her. Now, March is back, the temperature is rising, the first buds are on the tree branches and two weeks ago she celebrated her first birthday. In her opinion it was ridiculous but Alexandra, Sam and the child insisted that the day she merged with Sam has to be commemorated in some way. It took her three days to realize that celebrating her birthday actually made her _happy_.

“Super to Worldkiller,” Kara’s voice suddenly ends her reminiscing, “Anyone listening?”

Reign brushes the sentimentality off with a brisk head tilt: “I’m here. What is the matter?”

No sirens reach her up here, no panicked heartbeats, no screams and no sound of explosions or gunfire. It is a calm night, making her wonder what her fellow Kryptonian needs her for. The next moment, there is a pull and slipstream in the air and Kara appears by her side: “No emergency but Winn contacted me that a meteor is heading towards Earth.”

Reign lifts a disinterested eyebrow.

“Don’t ask me what NASA is up to or why no one else reacts but apparently J’onn clarified that DEO will have a look at it to make sure that it is no alien crash landing.”

A crash landing, hostile alien at least would have meant _some_ fun. At times patrolling could be really _boring_. Reign turns her head, searching the sky with squinting eyes: “Where is it supposed to land?”

She really would rather return home early tonight because Alexandra could not stop by at L-Corp today. And Sam’s lunch breaks, oh sometimes they are the _only_ glimmer of hope on Reign’s horizon that is otherwise dulled by endless amounts of paperwork, telephone conferences or real conferences and she isn’t even allowed to light a fire under one or two arrogant, male asses. It’s all _very_ frustrating. Seeing Alexandra for an hour in the middle of such torture is the only thing keeping her from throwing a tantrum and some chairs on some days. However, Lena Luthor is most likely currently sitting next to her girlfriend on the couch and frankly Reign could tolerate the millionaire’s company only for _so_ long. Their relationship is slowly improving but they should take it one step at the time. Small steps.

“Somewhere in the desert, “ Kara answers, “At least like that no one can get hurt.”

Reign would not have cared either if the meteor hit a full town hall or a sand dune in the middle of nowhere. Humans in general, honestly, are _still_ not her thing. Some she can tolerate better than others like the child. The ones she would like to make disappear now and again are Lena Luthor and Margaret Sawyer. She can’t have _everything_ she wants, though. Grumbling under her breath about herself, she gets it together and has a sudden idea.

“Do you want to race?”

Kara smirks at her, the white of her teeth flashing in the faint glow from the city lights below them. Kara and Reign and everyone around them quickly realized that the two Kryptonians are _very_ similar although their upbringing and most of their live has been so different. They are both _proud_ of their origin, of being Kryptonian, the last daughters of a dead civilization and maybe exactly _because_ of that and the drastically different views they have regarding their culture, they are fiercely competitive: who is stronger, who is faster, who is better during training and who can eat more pot-stickers in one go?

Ruby compared them to Gimli and Legolas from Lord of the Rings one day and when Reign asked bewildered what a Gimli and a Legolas are, the child was _appalled_ and only calmed down when the adults promised to host a movie marathon and that the gap in Reign’s knowledge about Earth-culture would be closed as soon as possible. Reign didn’t _particularly_ like the movies. Talking trees, dwarfs and a ring that could make invisible. Nonsense. She still engaged in a heated discussion about which of them was Legolas afterwards: Kara or herself.

“Sure!” Kara exclaims, and the next second, Reign takes off like a sprinter when the starting shot sounds at the beginning of a race.

Her wide cloak billows loudly in the roaring wind and she _may_ have created a slight shockwave when she sped away and that _maybe_ hit Kara full in the chest.

“ **You’re so mean** ,” Sam scolds her, though, she is not _really_ mad, Reign can feel it and the smirk stays firmly on her face.

“Zor-El has no chance,” she says smugly, when she breaks the sonic barrier.

Out of the corner of her eye, she can make out the long tale of the meteor shining brightly in the pitch-black darkness of the desert, after a short while. Although spring is right around the corner, the nights are still chilly, even more so far out in the desert, so far away from any city or small town. The night is clear and dark because the moon is too new yet to light up much. Kara is a couple hundred yards behind her, convincing Reign that she will definitely be the first to reach the point of impact. She pushes her body even more, thinking how _nice_ it would be to catch the rock before it reached Earth’s surface. But the meteor is faster, crashes into a dune mere seconds before she could have snatched it right out of the sky.

There is a deafening bang, sand is whipped up, exploding everywhere like water fountains, hitting her right in the face. She goes a bit into a tailspin from the shockwave and the sand in her eyes makes her lose orientation for a moment. Wiping her stinging eyes, she tumbles into the warm sand.

“Reign? You ok?” Kara asks close behind her.

“ **That happens when you are too eager** ,” Sam says in the same tone she uses on her daughter when she scraped her knee during Earth-sport or when Alexandra has a shiner after training with Kara.

“Do not be such a mother,” Reign grumbles, “I’m not your child.”

Then Kara is next to her, she stands up and the two heroes stare with open mouths at the dune in front of them. The dune was quite high and the impact so severe that it formed a small opening in the sand, almost a small cave because the temperature was so high that the silica in the sand melted, creating a protective shell that keeps the dune from collapsing. Reign narrows her eyes: “What is this?”

Out of the perfectly round hole, crawls rigid, knobby sand looking almost like thick veins.  As she takes a closer look, it might also be tubes.

“They are called fulgurites,” Kara says excitedly next to her, “Pretty cool, right?”

Reign turns towards her skeptically: “Fulgu- what?”

A proud grin forms on the blonde’s face and she knows _exactly_ what happens now. Kara puts one hand in her hip, raises the other, extending her index finger, looking all serious: “Fulgurites are natural tubes or masses of  sintered or fused soil, sand, rock or other organic debris that can form when lightning discharges into ground. They are commonly hollow or branching assemblages of glassy, proto- and microcrystalline tubes. Peak  temperatures within a lightning channel are known to exceed thirty-thousand K being able to melt various organic material into the forms we call fulgurites.”

She is always _so_ proud when she can show off how much she learned about Earth during her life here. Therefore, also rubbing it in Reign’s face how little _she_ knows in comparison. She bends down to pick one of the strange formations up: “This does not look much like glass.”

And it’s true because the tube is unsightly and grey and definitely not crystal clear.

“Close your fist.”

Reign raises an eyebrow at her, but Kara just looks at her eagerly. She closes her fist. To her surprise, she hears the glass breaking and when she opens her hand again, she can see the fine glass dust, too.

“ **Cool** ,” Sam chimes.

Reign tries to remain unimpressed, though, even she has to admit that Earth is a _wondrous_ planet at times. She lets the dust rill into the sand, pats her hands to clean them and nods towards the little cave: “Let’s see what is in there.”

Kara’s expression turns serious: “Looks like most of the meteor burned out after entering the atmosphere.”

They both blink into the shadows. Night-vision is something their Kryptonian genes do not provide them with. Reign nods: “There is still something, though.”

At the end of the small tunnel something fumes, gleaming red like _coals_ in the dark. The two wave their hands through the air to chase the steam away. Reign is the first inching forward.

“Be careful,” Kara whispers.

Reign scoffs.

A couple of feet away from the thing that crashed on their planet, the two crouch down.

“Can you see anything?”

The shadows are _thick_ and _heavy_ around them and due to the intense reddish glow, it is hard to make out what _exactly_ lies in front of them. Slowly, though, the glimmer faints, the thing cools off. It is a container of some sort, made of smooth, black stone or metal. A corner has broken off, revealing something _darker_ than the night engulfing them from all sides. Instinctively Reign reaches her hand out.

“That’s Kryptonese,” Kara exclaims startled.

She retreats her hand, squints her eyes even more to be able making out the familiar symbols carved deep into the outside of the container, in neat angular lines.

“I can’t read it. It’s too dark,” she says irritated.

She feels Kara shaking her head: “I can’t either,” then she puts a hand on Reign’s arm, “Let’s go back outside and contact the DEO. They can bring some light and then we can have a closer look.”

She casts a scrutinizing look at the Kryptonian container. The curiosity makes her fingertips tingle.

“ **You should listen to Kara** ,” Sam says nervously, “ **I don’t like this**.”

They are both _right_ of course, both _reasonable_. But when has Reign ever been _reasonable_? She reaches her hand out again: “I’m an almighty-“ she begins, getting instantly interrupted by both Kara and Sam:

“Oh, don’t even start with this.”

“ **Seriously, Reign**?”

She rolls her eyes in annoyance.

To their defense she has to admit that her status as being omnipotent and invincible suffered _tremendously_ in the past months. Whenever she proudly proclaimed to be an almighty Worldkiller the universe was out to proof her wrong: four months ago, a rare sun storm robbed  Reign and Kara of their powers, though for a reason she cannot remember anymore she was up in the air until the very last second. The very moment she told Alexandra, Kara and the rest that they did not have to worry, she fell out of the sky like a sand sack. One month ago, during a raid in a gang headquarter, she came face to face with a Vrang, an alien race who once attempted to conquer Krypton, and boy did she underestimate the guy. And three weeks ago, she heroically pushed Alexandra out of a collapsing train tunnel only to get buried herself under tons of concrete, making it impossible for her to breathe for longer than was healthy. Therefore, she could understand that people became alarmed now when she insisted on her indestructibleness.

 She clears her throat, rushing the words out, so she cannot be interrupted again: “I’m an almighty Worldkiller. What is the worst that could happen?”

Then she reaches her hand out. Kara shouts something and Sam, too, but her hand touches the strange dark and simultaneously glittering stone against their _warnings_. Against _better_ judgement. The second her skin comes in contact with the cold stone, the world around her explodes in a cloud of red and blinding sparks and she is vaulted backwards.

So much for being invincible.

.

 

Ruby is already asleep while Alex and Lena have their Girl’s Night in the living room. At some point in the past several months, the two women realized that they barely knew _anything_ about each other. And that despite the fact that they knew each other for more than two years and because of  Kara practically are family anyways. Kara, Sam and Reign bonded _more_ than well enough over Krypton and being heroes and being adopted and the list went on and on like that. Alex and Lena on the other hand, well, they _might_ have saved the world together but barely knew anything private about each other.

They already learned that they both like science and sometimes they go to fairs or museums or hang out either in Lena’s lab at L-Corp or at Alex’ lab at the DEO dawdling away the day with mostly silly experiments. Sometimes they invite Winn, too. What they also already learned is that they would never spurn a good drop of alcohol. Alex must be careful in that department, though. Getting hammered every time they meet is _not_ an option. What they only realized a couple of weeks ago is that they both, secretly of course, are a _bit_ of pop-culture nerds. And when their days are too long and too hard to do anything besides falling onto the couch, sipping on a cold beer or a rich wine, they Netflix and chill. Naturally _platonically_.

iZombie currently is their favorite show because they both think it is _ridiculous_ for different reasons. What they agree on, though, is the fact that the idea of zombies is downright _hilarious_. Kara gently reminded them that they live in a world with shapeshifting, super-fast and super-strong aliens and have friends that live in another dimension on the one hand and friends who time travel on the other. Alex laughed her off while Lena snorted into her burgundy Rioja: “Yeah but zombies? Come on.”

Right now, Alex is a million miles away, though, hearing neither the TV nor Lena. The dream hasn’t left her all day, always washed over her in the uttermost _worst_ situations and when she took a quick shower at the DEO earlier after training the new recruits she swore she felt their hands on her body and their lips on her skin and she had to turn the water so cold that she was _freezing_.

Currently, she is not doing any better. Her gaze is glazed, and she doesn’t move a muscle, is unable to even twitch. She is so far gone in her own head that she can almost feel how long, slender arms move from her shoulders, down over her shirt covered chest, how a sweet, sweet voice rasps into her ear: “Alex.”

The touch is _almost_ there, is _almost_ real when another arm reaches over her shoulder, when a hand lands on her left thigh and another in her hair and there is a second mouth next to her other ear: “Alexandra.”

She tilts her head back against the backrest of the couch.

“Alex…”

“Alex!”

Her eyes snap open with a start: “Yes!” she says too loudly, “I’m listening.”

Lena shakes her head: “You have been anything but listening.”

She takes a long sip of her beer to hide her flushed face, to calm her raging pulse. It doesn’t help.

Lena motions with her wineglass to the television: “You just missed how Liv gave Peyton a lap-dance because she ate stripper-brain.”

“No, no. Totally saw that, Good scene,” Alex lies, nervously rubbing her neck.

Lena narrows her eyes: “You’re a _bad_ liar, Agent. You did not make a single comment about the scene.”

Embarrassed, Alex twirls the bottle in her hands. Shyly she watches how Lena puts the show on hold before turning toward her with a wide, seductive smile: “Don’t you want to tell me what is on your mind, Agent Danvers.”

Alex’ cheeks grow hot because damn it _why_ does Lena _always_ flirt with her like this. She knows it’s all in good humor because Lena _loves_ Kara and she is Sam’s _best_ friend and anything romantic or sexual between them is _completely_ out of the question. For both of them. Nonetheless, Alex turns red as a Christmas stocking every time Lena casts her a suggestive smile, or winks at her and Jesus when she calls her _Agent_ , Alex’ ears prickle: “Stop that!” she grumbles.

Lena laughs slightly at her flushed face: “Ok. Ok. I don’t want to overdo it and have Reign really murder me in my sleep one day.”

Alex lets out a relieved sigh. She escaped by the skin of her teeth. She is half-way reaching for the remote when Lena purrs: “So?”

She turns her head to look at her, fearing the worst: “Yes?”

“What got you thinking so hard?”

She gulps.

Hiding something from _Lena_ is even harder than hiding something from _Ruby_. The young Luthor can read people like books and Alex must be a kind of book with an extra-large font to her. She clears her throat, leans back into the cushions, leaving the remote on the coffee table.

It doesn’t happen often that they talk about the _real_ stuff. Because Lena is Alex’ only female friend, though, that she sees on a regular basis and Lena has things she _does_ not want or _can_ not discuss with Sam, they sometimes share important things. And the dream, good Lord, that _seems_ to be important. Alex swallows another mouth full of beer, clears her throat again: “There is really something on my mind. Has been for quite a while now.”

Lena’s eyes are burning like sulfur with curiosity.

“I have this…dream,” A wide smirk blooms on Lena’s face, “About Sam…and Reign.”

Before she can finish, her phone goes off on the kitchen counter. She casts a quick glance at Lena, both remembering that Kara and Reign are on patrol-duty today. Without hesitation, she jumps over the back of the couch, grabbing her phone: “Yes?”

Lena stands up, too, comes around the couch to place a supportive hand on her arm. It’s Kara, _barely_ able to hide the nervous undertone in her voice:

“ _Alex, you must come to the DEO_.”

.

 

They take an Uber to the city because neither of them should be driving anymore, especially not with Ruby snoring peacefully between them.

Alex already was in the driveway when Lena reminded her about her daughter sleeping soundly on the first floor. Cursing, Alex rushed back into the house, but Ruby was out cold, mumbled something about if Reign didn’t _kill_ anyone and no one was in _mortal_ danger, they should let her sleep. She has an exam in biology or physics or something like that the next day. Alex scooped her up anyways.

She has a bad feeling in her stomach, one that makes everything _hard_ and _cramped_ and the spinning in her head has nothing to do with the alcohol. In the door to the ready room at the DEO, where they parked Ruby in one of the bunk beds, she must take a  deep breath, to get her fear about Reign and Sam back under control. It was only a little more than ten months ago that she thought she would never see Sam again and that bottomless panic is hard to let go off. During therapy, she is working on those abandonment issues, but it is a slow process, it is a lot to process because, honestly, she has those issues ever since her father vanished. And in a way, they _always_ worry about each other, it is part of their daily lives.

Lena reaches out to her, giving her hand a little squeeze: “Kara said they are alright.”

Alex nods unconvinced. The things they all came to accept as _ok_ and _alright_ are far, far away from the normal meaning of those words. Pummeling with ninety miles per hour into the Riley Park and leaving a crater that is almost the diameter of a softball field is not _alright_.

“Let’s go,” she mumbles, preparing for the worst.

The first people she notices are J’onn and Kara, their faces turned towards the entry of the med bay. To her relief, they do not look like someone is _dying_ or in a _coma_ , more like they have trouble believing something that is right in front of them. As if they just saw a spectacular magic trick and know that it is a trick but can’t figure out how it worked. Alex’ hasty steps become slower. In front of the bed, they all gathered around, stands a third person, in full costume just like Kara. Reign is deep in conversation, her expression serious, having some scratches here and there but looking fine otherwise. Now, Alex comes to a complete stop because a fourth person is sitting on the bed, clad in typical DEO work-out clothes, a white cotton shirt and black leggings, facing away from the door. She narrows her eyes. The mysterious fourth person looks familiar, _freakishly_ familiar. Their chestnut brown hair reaches to their shoulders, just like Reign’s would if she hadn’t tied it up. Their skin is tanned, dancing between dark cinnamon and maybe tip-toing a bit into olive. Just like Reign’s and Sam’s. She inhales a sharp breath.

“Lena,” she asks, five feet away from the bed, “Am I seeing double?”

“Then I’m seeing double, too.”

Disbelief is written all over their faces, as they stand side by side in the med bay. “Did I drink too much,” Alex wonders, “Pinch me.”

Lena pinches her hard in the waist.

“Ow!”

Four heads turn towards them and Alex lets out a little squeak because she cannot comprehend the slightest what her eyes are seeing. Reign and Sam are looking at her with wide eyes, in mild concern. Reign is still in her suit, though without the cloak and Sam is sitting on the bed, half turned to be able to look at Alex and Lena. It’s the _two_ of them. Each in _their_ own body. Separated. It makes Alex dizzy, makes her sway slightly on her feet:

“I must be dreaming,” she mumbles then her vision grows hazy for a second.

She hears her girlfriends calling out for her, then a strong pair of arms is around her, guiding her gently to the floor. She prepares to only see _one_ of them when she opens her eyes again because this is _not_ a dream, but it _feels_ a lot like her dream. As if someone made her wish come true.

“Are you alright, Alexandra?” Reign is kneeling next to her, has her arms around her trembling shoulders.

“Baby, you ok?” Sam kneels on her other side, places a hand against her hot cheek.

They both look concerned and worried and just so, _so_ similar. That is part of what makes them a miracle: that they are identical and yet so different. Sam gentle, loving and sweet, the one who blows up only once in a blue moon, the one allowing Alex to take the control away from her a little more often than once in a blue moon. Reign in contrast is rough, intense and possessive, constantly blows up if anyone only looks the wrong way at their little family, too scared to let go of control because of her powers. And yet they look like identical twins and most often she feels like she is the only one knowing how to truly appreciate the wonder they are. In contrast to most other people, maybe with the exception of Ruby, she can _always_ tell them apart, _always_ knows who is in front of her just by looking at them. Seeing them side by side now, in arms reach, so _real_ that it is overwhelming, it’s all a bit _too_ much for her.

She cannot believe that after so much time she can touch them and hold them and kiss them. In the real world. Alex is at a loss for words, can only open and close her mouth without saying anything, though her cheeks must grow hotter by the second. Suddenly, Kara peers over their shoulders, grinning wide: “Looks like she is a bit overwhelmed.”

While Reign pulls Alex to her feet, guiding her to the bed, Lena asks: “How did this happen?”

“Something went wrong on a mission,” J’onn mumbles in the back, clearly not interested in elaborating that further at this point. That something went wrong on a mission became _something_ of a dictum in the past ten months because sure as hell with Kara, Reign and Alex there were _plenty_ of things going wrong on _plenty_ of missions. Not that they are doing it on purpose or that it happens because they are incompetent but that’s how it is. From her spot next to Alex on the bed, Sam answers her in more detail: “A meteor crashed in the desert.”

“Turned out it wasn’t a rock but a container from Krypton,” Reign continues, standing with crossed arms in front of her girlfriend and twin.

“And you know Reign. Of course, she had to touch it even though we couldn’t see anything,” Kara finishes.

“You’re split,” Alex stutters suddenly, staring with wide eyes from Reign to Sam and back, “You’re split.”

That information is still sinking in.

“Apparently,” Reign says dryly.

“Where is Ruby by the way?” Sam asks, looking from Alex to Lena slightly anxious.

Although Ruby is a teenager now, she doesn’t like to let her stay alone at home, especially not in the night.

“She’s sleeping in the ready room.”

She lets out a happy _sigh_ first and then a surprised _yelp_ because Alex suddenly pulls her and Reign in for a tight hug.

“This is crazy,” Alex says dreamily, alternating between nuzzling her nose in Sam’s and Reign’s necks.

She has been happy before in her relationship, _really_ happy, because she had everything: the two women she loves with all her heart, her daughter who she loves just as much and her family and friends who always have her back. _This_ , however, is making her giddy with happiness, fills her with so much joy that she must be close to simply floating away. With soft eyes, Sam regards Reign and Alex before wrapping her own arms around the two, holding them tight: “It is.”

The Worldkiller starts to squirm not five seconds later, her cheeks turning a little red: “Yeah, yeah. Can we stop this now?”

Alex and Sam know that Reign does not have anything against cuddling _per se_ , though, no one else outside their little trio is supposed to know that. To most people, Reign presents a stoic, hard and proud façade, the untouchable, cold Worldkiller. Only around Sam and Alex and sometimes the child does she lower her walls, does she allow herself to be _gentle_ and _soft_ and _vulnerable_. Sam and Alex know this. They share a knowing glance while letting go.

“How are you feeling? Is anything weird?”

The twins shake their heads.

“Though…” Sam begins, casting an uneasy glance at Reign who immediately knows what she is talking about, they still don’t need words to share their thoughts.

“It’s a little…” Reign continues displeased.

On instinct they reach out for each other, needing the physical connection now that their mental connection is severed.

“Empty,” Sam finishes their sentence.

Alex is quiet and unsure between them, remembering only now that being separated is something neither of her girlfriends _ever_ wanted. That realization heavily dampens her bursting happiness. She is sure though, that they find a way to make it work, the three of them always do because they are a _team_ , they are _partners_. Sam is quick to chase the gloomy feelings away: “Can we go home now? Please? No one is going to work for me tomorrow.”

Lena groans behind her and into Kara’s shoulder: “Don’t remind me.”

“I’ll get the kid,” Reign says fast, leaving the med bay before anyone can protest.

After J’onn instructed Sam to run a couple of tests together with Reign in the following days to eliminate any possible side-effects of the split, they all say good-bye. Sam and Alex are the first to leave for the parking lot, collecting Reign on the way down who gives a still sleeping Ruby a piggy-back ride. Thankfully, the Chrysler waits for them and they don’t have to call an Uber again. Sam drives, Alex sits in the passenger seat while Reign cuddles with Ruby on the backseat. Although, she feels tired and drained after the long day, she is glad about being the designated driver. Reign doesn’t know the first _thing_ about cars and Alex would have steered them into the first _barrier_ because she just cannot stop staring between her two girlfriends.

They park the car in the garage for a change because although the suburbs are asleep all around them, one _never_ knows and they _all_ saw Disturbia and neither of them wants to explain why a super-hero flits through the Arias-Danvers driveway in the middle of the night. Ruby is dead to the world, doesn’t even stir when Reign carries her inside and her mother puts her to bed.

Like in trance, Alex moves to the bedroom, sitting down on the bed, the Worldkiller not far behind. Alex still can’t believe that the split is not a Fata Morgana, that part of her dream will come true tonight, that she can fall asleep in _both_ their arms. Her heartrate picks up while she stares at Reign leaning against the doorway. The Worldkiller begins to fidget: “What are you looking at?”

“You,” Alex chuckles with warm cheeks.

It’s always either Sam or Reign she stares at because sometimes she remembers that this wonderful person loves her and that she loves them and then she needs a couple of moments to catch her breath. “It is so unreal seeing you standing there and knowing that Sam is in the next room.”

Reign briefly glances down the hall, shifts against the frame. Alex feels that processing the split will take some time for them, that suddenly losing your _literal_ second half cannot simply be overcome in the course of two hours. The silence ends instantly, when Sam slides past Reign: “Are you still in your suit?”

The Worldkiller rolls her eyes. Her cloak is at the DEO because Sam lay naked in the desert sand after the split and was in _dire_ need to cover up. Kara stubbornly refused to turn around until Reign wrapped her cloak around Sam’s shoulders. She is still in the suit, though, because when was she supposed to change? Sam doesn’t even wait for an answer:

“You need a toothbrush and some clothes to sleep in and-“

Alex lets out a small sniffle. It is the first time she hears _both_ parts of their bickering. The number of _firsts_ waiting for the three of them just behind the horizon is making her heart beat even faster. All these beautiful, wonderful things that are in their reach all of a sudden for the first time ever. Wordlessly, the two step away from the door, Sam putting her hands on Alex’ head, Reign wrapping one arm around her girlfriend’s shoulders and one around her twin’s waist. They remain like that for a while, Reign’s head rests against Sam’s shoulder and Alex buries her face in both their stomachs.

“I love you both so much.”

“We love you, too,” Sam responds softly, dropping a kiss on her girlfriend’s crown.

Reign holds tighter onto them in silence. Neither of them moves, all of them soaking up the moment to the fullest extent, savoring how _connected_ they are. When the atmosphere tips, it is just as quiet and unspectacular as them, Reign begins to gently caress Alex’ shoulders, Sam moves her hands to tilt Alex’ head up until she is able to kiss her. They don’t have sex that night. Not yet. Not with Ruby sleeping just down the hall and two of them having to work the next day.

It is Sam who eventually drags them into the bathroom, insists on teeth being brushed and not sleeping in the daily clothes. The unhappy voice of reason. Sam is also the one sleeping in the middle that night because Reign had her hand down Alex’ boxer shorts the very _second_ they settled in bed. And two more times _after_ Sam told her to stop and Alex began to whine.

“You keep your hands off each other or one of you sleeps on the couch.”

That shuts the two up effectively. Neither of them would ever want or try to annoy Sam. Alex and Reign are wrapped around her little finger and eat out of her hand. Although Alex is kind of the pivotal point in their triangle, Sam, surprisingly or not, is the one controlling their power dynamic. Funny enough that no one ever questions it. And with her head tucked under Sam’s chin and her hand resting on the curve of Reign’s hipbone, Alex falls asleep with a wide, _wide_ smile on her face and a soft, warm feeling in her heart. A dream coming true never was quite _this_ amazing.

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning is _pure_ chaos.

The adults oversleep and when Ruby barges into the room without knocking first, she almost has a heart attack.

“You two split and didn’t bother to tell me?”

Alex and Reign rub the sleep out of their eyes, quietly stealing away into the bathroom, leaving Sam to handle the fuming teenager. She points a finger at her mother, being all serious and grown-up.

“She looks just like, Samantha,” Reign mumbles around the toothbrush, peering around the doorframe.

“We will talk about this, but I have an exam in AP chemistry today and I’m not going to be late.”

“She’s vicious,” Alex agrees after rinsing.

The bedroom door bangs and ten seconds later Sam stands between them, a sour look on her face: “Fine moms you are.”

Reign strips out of her shirt and panties: “I never signed up for anything mother related,” she says, pushing the shower curtains aside, “Just so you know.”

In record time, the three adults shower and get dressed, discussing the course of the day. Sam takes Ruby to school whereas Alex and Reign take the Agent’s Ducati to the DEO. Reign has no job, has no civilian alter-ego of her own and leaving her home _alone_ the whole day or even worse home alone with _Ruby_ would most likely lead to shenanigans of the kind neither Sam nor Alex wanted to clean up. Taking Reign to the DEO was the easiest solution and Alex could even get started with the first tests to make sure that the split doesn’t have any residual effects.

.

 

Thankfully, it is a slow day: no psychic tries to rob a bank, no alien race tries to invade the city, and no one tries to murder Lena.

Not yet at least.

Reign endures the tests quietly, having _real_ trouble hiding the genuine smile when Alexandra gives her a lollipop before taking the blood samples to another lab inside the building. Orange lollipops are the _only_ kind of food the Worldkiller likes that doesn’t set taste buds on fire. Somehow the moment Sam fell in love with Alexandra left an imprint in Reign and although she rampaged in her host at that time and rolled her eyes and was furious beyond words, she honestly is beyond _grateful_ and _glad_ it all played out like this.

Sucking contently on the sweet treat, she vanishes in one of the training rooms to meditate. Other people at the DEO slowly stopped staring at her like she was the devil incarnate, however, she only interacted with them when it was unavoidable. She rather stays alone to practice Torquasm-Vo than wandering around the halls, having to endure any hostile glances and murmurs that she always hears no matter how quiet the person cusses her. Kara is at the other side of town at her human work place, though, as far as the Worldkiller can gauge it, currently she is behaving _pretty_ inappropriate. Reign curses in Kryptonese when the familiar sounds of lovemaking reach her ears. Cursing some more, she tunes out as fast as possible having had to endure this way too often already because Alexandra never knocks before entering her sister’s apartment and hey only because Sam _doesn_ ’ _t_ have super-hearing that doesn’t entail that Reign cannot hear them, _nonetheless_. That she cannot continue the discussion with her fellow Kryptonian about the caste system on their dead home planet, disgruntles her but for the love of Yuda Kal, she would never call for Kara during intercourse with Lena Luthor.

A little lost, she stands in one of the halls, shifting through the noises and sounds around her. The child is at school, Sam is engaged in a heated conversation on the telephone and even J’onzz is unavailable. Last, she searches for her girlfriend. She hears that Alexandra is stuck with paperwork until the test results are there and if papers at L-Corp were _boring_ than surely papers at the DEO are just _as_ boring. Briefly, she considers distracting the redhead, but she made it repeatedly clear that their relationship is to be _professional_ at work. And she doesn’t want to push her luck _too_ often or Alexandra will surely run away from her again, which, of course is even _worse_ than restraining her libido.

With a small sigh, she shakes the enticing idea off, the sight of Alexandra looking all concentrated and science-y and _oh_ she and Sam are _so_ weak. To not get swept away by any more ideas, she stays hidden away in the training room for the better part of the morning, concentrating on her mind and her body, on finding inner peace whatever that is supposed to mean.

The first thing she does is trying to enter Krypton. After she and Sam merged, the dark valley that was her prison for so long, transformed into an illusion of Krypton, the wide plain, the low grass, the endlessly blue sky and although her Fortress of Sanctuary didn’t exist anymore in the _real_ world a mirrored version still existed inside her _head_. It is her new place of sanctuary, the place she goes to when Sam is in control of their body, the place that is hers and Sam’s alone.

A cold wave rushes over her because she cannot find it. Where she has only yesterday simply fallen backwards into her own consciousness to wake up in a meadow, a pleasant breeze washing over her, there is only a gaping, black, toothless mouth today. With the mental link gone, the rest of what made their connection so unique is gone, too. Krypton is gone, the Fortress of Sanctuary is gone, Sam is gone. Her gentle voice doesn’t echo anymore in her head, her iron will doesn’t keep Reign anymore from being in mischief and her heart and soul don’t resonate anymore within Reign.

The realization hits her like a punch in the face, her heart clenches painfully and she lets out a painful gasp. There is a hole inside her, infinitely deep and pitch-black, a hole Sam fits perfectly and that currently feels as if someone forcefully cut a piece out of her. Having her own body _sucks_. Even though she saw Sam only this morning, she misses her, _terribly_ , _horribly_ misses her as if they hadn’t seen each other for months and by the grace of Yuda Kal, no, no, no. Suddenly the emptiness reminds her of the solitude she had to endure when Sam was _gone_ and if she cannot chase the feeling away she will soon be reduced to tears. To her surprise, she doesn’t feel like turning to Alexandra in her pain because yesterday she saw how overjoyed her girlfriend was about the split. She couldn’t stop staring at them and touching them and was in so much _awe_ that Reign simply doesn’t have the heart to tell her how downright _horrible_ it is to have a body of her own, how much she wishes to fuse with Sam again even though that means that a lot of things become impossible again between the three of them.

In the end, she feels stuck between her wish to make Alexandra happy and her wish to chase the loneliness due to her twin’s absence away. Maybe time will sooth the wound in her chest, maybe she can learn to exist all on her own and maybe her God holds a protective hand over his daughter. And maybe Yuda Kal heard her broken begging, took pity on her because the next moment someone launches themselves into her arms: “Here you are, Reign!”

The child tackles her right out of the air, where she has been floating half a foot above ground, and now grins down at her, round face framed by a halo of dark locks. Reign carefully pushes her off: “Do your moms know that you are here?”

She has _definitely_ taken a liking to the small human, it makes no sense to deny that, though _no_ one has to go overboard with their affection. If the child knew how much Reign really cares about her, she would probably become annoying and never leave her side again. Better things remain as they are now. Ruby rolls her eyes, makes a disparaging hand gesture: “Mom waits downstairs. She wants to take us to lunch. Mama doesn’t know.”

Lunch sounds very tempting to the Worldkiller. Her stomach consents with a loud growl. And Sam waits for them, her twin is _right_ around the corner waiting for her and she is flooded by calm relief.

“Come on, let’s look for Alex,” Ruby says excitedly, jumping up from the ground and grabbing Reign’s hand.

While the child leads her through the halls, she feels the loneliness leaving her, being replaced with a softer, sweeter feeling in her heart. She looks at the small hand in her own, suddenly remembering that the days of her solitude are _over_ and _done_ with because _oh_ it is a miracle but there are people, humans out there who _love_ her, who want her in their lives. She swallows heavily, chasing the emotions suddenly bubbling up in her away. That she is split from Sam now doesn’t mean that she will be lonely again, doesn’t _have_ to mean that she will be lonely again and somehow her shoulders feel a bit lighter. Maybe hiding away from everyone wasn’t the best idea, maybe she should let the people reaching out to her in from time to time.

Alexandra jumps in her chair at the desk when Ruby hugs her because she listened to music via headphones. Loud music with a lot of heavy guitars and drums. Twin Atlantic, a Scottish band. Ruby introduced Reign to Spotify two months ago and she is a fast learner. And everybody constantly leaves their electronic devices scattered all around the house.

The redhead looks like she is in need of a break, too, the stack of empty folders she must fill with reports is bigger than the stack with reports she has already written, and Reign takes pity on her because _well_ most of these reports are either her of Kara’s fault. Alexandra stretches, popping a joint here and there, telling them that the test results give no cause for concern and that Reign is as healthy as a Kryptonian can be. Now if Sam’s test results will be as normal, then everything is fine. They make a detour to the war-room to let J’onzz know that they are out, then they take the elevator downstairs.

“So, I was wondering since I did pretty well on my exam, maybe I could stay at Kerala’s tonight,” Ruby says nonchalantly.

The only thing Reign hears is that they _potentially_ have the house to themselves tonight. Inwardly, she is hoping that the child will stay with her friend because _damn_ it an empty house means not having to care about decency, means that she is allowed to take Alexandra on every surface the house has to offer. Now that she has her own body and Sam, too and _oh_ the things they can do _to_ their loved one, _with_ their loved one. Reign swallows. Alexandra raises a skeptical eyebrow at Ruby: “What does your mom say?”

The child shrugs: “She’s cool with it.”

“How do you know how your test went if you only wrote it this morning?”

Ruby begins to look uncomfortable: “I’m super smart. It was easy-peasy.”

Reign holds her breath. The child is obviously trying to play both her mothers against the middle and she hopes that she is successful.

“Well, well,” Alex chuckles, “Then it is no problem if I ask her?”

Ruby struggles to keep a straight face but the Worldkiller hears her heartrate picking up from the lie: “Nope.”

Reign wants to shake her. If the child torpedoes the steamy night with her girlfriend and twin waiting for Reign, then the Worldkiller will smuggle her single-handedly to the Ahmadis. When the elevator dings and Alexandra is the first one to step out, the Worldkiller hears how Ruby grumbles under her breath: “This was so much easier last month.”

A grin creeps up on the Worldkiller because Alexandra has proven again that she is good at _everything_ , she’s good even at something so unimportant as being a mother and _yes_ , she is more than a little proud of the redhead. Reign stops short when she notices that not only Sam waits for them outside the DEO but Lena and Kara, too. She hangs behind a bit, not sure how she fits in this dynamic now. Usually she always tuned out while Sam met with people, except if it was Alexandra but today she cannot simply slink away, there is nowhere she can hide, nowhere she can run to. Especially not because the need to physically connect with Sam is _overwhelming_. She shoves her hands in the pockets of her black pants, her gaze jumping from the grey concrete to the small group.

Currently, they are engaged in the discussion about whether Ruby is allowed to spend the night somewhere else. She takes slow, deliberate steps closer. Although, they carry out a normal verbal conversation, she notices that Alexandra and Sam have a second, quiet conversation with their eyes and body language. Then they are both looking at her with dark eyes, sending a shiver down her spine because _damn_ it at least from Alexandra she knows _that_ look. The next second, Ruby is cheering, hugging both their mothers. While the rest of the group begins to argue about where they should eat, Sam closes the distance between them, pulls her in for a long, long hug and for Reign it feels like coming home.

“I missed you,” Sam whispers in her ear.

Reign pushes her fingers in the folds of Sam’s blazer, pushes her nose in the crook of her neck. Sam caresses her back in broad, wide strokes, so soothing as if she would caress her very soul. She lets out a content sigh. While she retreats, her twin husks: “We have the house completely to ourselves this night.”

Reign knows that her gaze must be just as hungry as Sam’s as they both turn to look at Alexandra. The Agent notices their intense staring and instantly tenses up while simultaneously a blush creeps up her neck.

“Let’s go,” she says in a high-pitched voice, swiftly turning around, “I’m hungry.”

One could call the broad smirks on Reign’s and Sam’s faces _smug_.

.

 

Lunch passes without any major incidence.

They avoid any potential identity reveals only by a whisker and with a little help of good luck. Going to an all-you-can-eat Mongolian restaurant with two Kryptonians was in itself a _bad_ idea. People were already staring because Sam and Reign look like twins but when the Worldkiller and Kara pile plate after plate on the table, they don’t even _try_ to hide it anymore. The situation reaches worrying levels when the two reach for the last pot-sticker in the same moment. The _very_ last. They already ate the rest. While Alex and Lena persuade their girlfriends to let it be, Ruby eggs them further on and Sam leans back in her chair, closes her eyes and quietly sips on a cup of green-tea. Should Alex be the responsible one for a change. Before Reign and Kara can really flex their muscles, they suddenly freeze, perking their ears like two cats who heard the rustling of a mouse somewhere. In reality they are no cats obviously but heroes, and the mouse is a guy drugged to the eyeballs with steroids throwing a tantrum in a mini-mart, five blocks away. Kara jumps from the chair, gives Lena a peck and vanishes to the toilets while Reign gets a kiss on either cheek from Alex and Sam and a hug from Ruby and storms out of the restaurant with a _burning_ face.

Soon afterwards Lena and Sam must return to work, Alex takes Ruby back to the DEO and they don’t see each other again until much later.

.

 

Alex is doing laundry when she receives a text from Ruby that the teenager safely got to her friend’s house and that she will come home the next morning.

Since the girl turned thirteen, the adults let her take the bike to Kerala because the Ahmadis live in the same neighborhood and Ruby is a responsible child. Mostly. The news run quietly in the background while Alex puts the laundry up, her phone is tucked safely in the back-pocket of her jeans because _just_ in case J’onn or Winn call her, she wants to be ready as soon as possible. _Just_ in case her sister or her girlfriend jump headlong into trouble again. But although it is a rather hectic afternoon and evening for Supergirl and Reign, it is only humans who land themselves in difficulties today and the DEO can concentrate its men-power on keeping the alien gangs in check, and the phone remains silent.

With nothing else preoccupying her mind, Alex’ thoughts keep wandering back to her dream, making her almost burn a hole in one of Sam’s expensive work shirts with the iron because she daydreams. Last night, going to bed snuggled up against Sam and Reign was _more_ than she could have ever asked for, she had been so happy that she almost couldn’t fall asleep.

And today? Oh my.

The glances she shared with her girlfriends before lunch were enough to make her _quiver_ with expectation and anticipation. They have a whole night to themselves, the whole house to themselves and Alex’ nostrils flare at the thought alone that they will not waste any of that opportunity with sleeping.

“Rao, you’re so desperate, Danvers,” she grumbles to herself as she moves downstairs.

Sam nagged her for days that one of the lightbulbs in the bathroom is broken and asked her to fix it. Not that Sam _actually_ needed her for that, for twelve years the only person in the household able to fix anything was herself but since the brunette told Alex that she liked the general idea of her fixing things _well_ , who is Alex to deny her girlfriend anything?

In the garage, she rummages for a screwdriver and a new lightbulb when she suddenly hears a clatter. Always the good Agent, she freezes immediately, straining her ears to hear if it was simply the drying rack falling over again or if someone was in the house. A second rumble tells her it is not the drying rack. Her gun is locked safely away in the safe in the bedroom.

Peachy.

But she is DEO Agent Alex Danvers and if any burglar tries to enter her home they will get the shock of their lifetime. And the kick in the arse of their lifetime. With a grim face, she reaches for the screwdriver and sneaks out of the garage. At least Sam and Ruby aren’t home. The first thing she notices is that someone broke the handle of the terrace door, leaving a trail of muddy footprints on the hardwood floor. She hears water running in the kitchen, rounds the corner in a single, swift move and stops dead in her tracks.

“Did you want to stab me with a screwdriver?” Reign asks from the sink, looking amused.

Alex’ shoulders relax, she lowers her arm and places the tool on the counter: “I thought you were an intruder.”

Wordlessly they look at the broken door.

“This is the fifth time.”

“It is not my fault that no one ever leaves a window open.”

“You _do_ realize that Sam owns a key?”

“And you _do_ realize that I do not exactly run around in Samantha’s clothes.”

Alex rolls her eyes: “You’re Kryptonian, you could simp-“ the rest of the sentence fades away because only now does she see which state the Worldkiller is in. “Reign, what happened to you?” she asks worriedly, closing the distance between them, “You look horrible.”

Reign’s cloak lies neatly folded on the couch and there is no way to hide the numerous scratches all over her body. They don’t look too alarming, none of them is bleeding anymore but it looks like she fought with a small tiger. Carefully, Alex takes her face in her hands after the Worldkiller turned the tab off.

“It’s nothing.”

Alex touches one of the marks in Reign’s face: “Does it hurt?”

The Worldkiller shakes her head even as she flinches.

“Liar.”

“You could kiss it better,” she says with a coy smile, her hands settling on Alex’ waist.

“Who taught you that? Ruby or Kara?”

Reign’s smile grows wider as she slowly leans in: “Samantha.”

Alex lets out a little grumble before their lips meet. _Tentative_ or _slow_ are words that never made it into Reign’s vocabulary and when they kiss it is _deep_ and _fiery_ and Alex always feels like she is claimed over and over again. She does her best to kiss it better, though, she is barely given the chance because before she knows it the handle of the fridge digs in her back and the Worldkiller’s finger dig into her waist. Reign angles her head and the next moment she parts Alex’ lips with her tongue. She never does things by halves: if she says she eats fifty potstickers, she will, if she says she will win the race against Kara to the thermosphere, she will and if she says she’ll catch the criminal, she will do that, too.

Now the thing about halves is that if Reign kisses her like _this_ , eager, demanding and breathtaking she doesn’t stop until Alex is a moaning, panting mess in her arms. And any other day she would have let her girlfriend hoist her up and fuck her against the fridge until the magnets fall down but today is _different_ , today is _special_ , today they are supposed to be _three_.

“Reign,” she gasps while two hands slide under shirt, long fingers kneading into her jumping muscles. The Worldkiller purrs against her collarbone. She tugs on the fabric of the suit: “No, stop.”

If there is one thing Reign actually ever listens to, it is when Alex tells her to _stop_. No matter how far gone the Worldkiller has been, how hungry and horny and needy, that is something she respects. Always. No exception. The look on her face is sullen, nonetheless.

“Don’t look like a kicked puppy,” Alex chuckles while trying to catch her breath, “It’s not that I don’t want to,” she says with a small blush dusting her pale cheeks.

There is a light spark in her dark, reddish eyes but before Reign can kiss her resolve away, Alex grabs her face: “I want to wait for Sam.”

The dark eyes widen even more, and a wide smile appears on Reign’s face: “Such a naughty girl.”

Alex blushes furiously at that, licks her lips briefly and looks all in all _thoroughly_ embarrassed that her little phantasy has been revealed. Before she can be teased even more, she reins her desire in, tugs it away, keeps it simmering until Sam will come home.

“Let’s treat your wounds,” she coughs, wriggles out of Reign’s arms, that are trapping her against the fridge and stalks towards the bathroom.

While she gets the first-aid kit from under the sink in the bathroom, her eyes catch the time on the small alarm standing next to the tooth mug. It’s past eight and already dark outside meaning that Reign’s wounds will only really start healing tomorrow. She pushes the Worldkiller down on the toilet and begins to rip open packages of sterile tweezers, gauze and gets the antiseptic out.

“Really?”

“Really,” she says with a huff as she dabs the first wound on Reign’s left cheek, “I’m not having sex with you when I have to fear that you’ll bleed all over the sheets.”

All she receives as a response is a grunt, though she is not interrupted in her work anymore. After her face is treated, Reign pushes the flexible suit down her shoulders, down to her waist, grinning wide because _ah_ Alex stares at her: her chest, her flat stomach, the curve of her biceps, hazel eyes growing _impossibly_ dark. She sniffs a second chance to get the gorgeous redhead out of her clothes, reaches her hands to the waistband of her jeans-

“No, no, no,” Alex scolds her hastily, slapping her hands away.

Groaning, she crosses her arms in front of her chest instead because her fingers are, god damn it, _twitching_.

“Instead of pouting you should tell me how this happened,” Alex says in a stern voice, one eyebrow raised in what the child calls the mom-gaze, something she must have picked up from Sam.

Huffing, Reign uncrosses her arms again: “A small Felydaran got stuck in a tree.”

The tweezers halt mid-way to an angry scratch on her right forearm and Alex looks at her in disbelief: “One Felydaran did this?”

Reign shrugs her shoulder suddenly visibly uncomfortable by the awe-struck gaze Alex regards her with.

“It was fussing and yelling for its parents.”

“Are you really telling me you look this battered because you saved a small cat from a tree?” Alex chuckles, her heart overflowing with emotions for the stoic Worldkiller.

“They are not cats, they are-“

“I know, I know. They are feline aliens,” she cuts her off, smiling softly at her disgruntled expression.

Alex takes a step closer until she is standing between Reign’s legs, the tweezer lying forgotten on the edge of the sink, her thumbs gently caressing her girlfriend’s cheeks: “You really are something else.”

“I never understood that phrase. Sometimes you humans use words that make no sense.”

The Worldkiller’s brows furrow, her hands settling somewhere on Alex’ hipbones again and this time she lets it happen.

“That’s what I love about you,” she says, leaning down to give Reign a chaste, sweet kiss.

“That’s what you keep telling me,” then the Worldkiller tugs her down again.

When Reign’s tongue runs over her bottom lip and her hands settle on her ass, Alex pushes at her shoulders with flushed cheeks: “No!”

Her chest is heaving, her face is burning and _damn_ it for a _hot_ second she imagines having sex in their bathroom but then she shoves a finger in Reign’s face: “We are gonna wait for Sam.”

Reign only looks at her with blown pupils, her bottom lip between her teeth.

“Understood?”

The Worldkiller stares harder, intense and familiar and good God, Alex needs to get out of the small room soon or she will cave because she knows _this_ look has seen it countless time on Reign’s face and on Sam’s face. Hastily she throws the tweezers and the gauze away, shoves the first-aid kit back in its place and rushes out of the bathroom as fast as possible.

She ends up in the kitchen again, decides to drink a big glass of cold water, hoping that it will calm her raging heartbeat and pull her mind out of the gutter. She takes long sips, trying to chase the images away of one position after the other she wants to try tonight. It helps only rather minimal. And any progress she made is _instantly_ shattered when Reign enters the living room, plopping down on the couch, opening a magazine on gardening.

Gardening is the Worldkiller’s only hobby apart from teasing Alex mercilessly. When Ruby asked her about it, Reign answered it calms her down and it is something her powers cannot help her with, something her powers have no influence on. The flower will grow all by itself, the only thing she can do is supporting it.

Reign doesn’t even look at her, reads the article attentively, though she has the feeling the Worldkiller knows exactly which kind of effect her state of clothing has on Alex. Most of Reign’s clothes are black: her shirts, her pants, her shoes. Her almost see-through, flimsy silk kimono is, too.

“Are you kidding me?” Alex exclaims, totally not staring at Reign’s long, long legs. Okay. Maybe a bit.

“I do not know what you’re talking about.”

Grabbing her laptop, Alex settles on the other end of the couch, far, far away from her girlfriend in the _sinful_ piece of clothing.

“Oh sure. Ms. Innocent doesn’t know what I’m talking about.”

Reign sends her a sly glance over the edge of the magazine and all she can do is swallow heavily and drill holes in the screen of the laptop. She does her best to not be distracted by the way her girlfriend crosses her bare legs, wets her index finger to flip the pages more easily or how the outlines of Reign’s breasts are visible under the delicate silk.

Why, Rao? _Why_?

Taking deep breaths, she logs into the VPN connecting her to the DEO servers. It’s stupid, though, _really_ because with Reign sitting practically naked a little more than an arm’s length away from her, she cannot write one single coherent sentence anyways. After five minutes of staring blankly at the white page, the silence around her only disturbed occasionally when another page is turned, she has enough. Who does she even try to fool here?

“Oh, to hell with it!” she rumbles, pushes the laptop aside and almost pounces on her girlfriend.

Reign throws the magazine in the general direction of the coffee table and the second Alex is sitting in her lap, she surges forward. The kiss is all _teeth_ and _tongue_ and _heat_. Alex’ fingers bury in Reign’s hair while the Worldkiller’s hands settle wherever she can pull her girlfriend closer. When hot lips kiss and nib at her jaw, Alex lets her hands travel down until she finds the belt holding the Kimono together. In one swift move, she unties it, letting out a low moan because her fingers can finally touch Reign’s warm, soft skin.

“What happened to waiting?”

“Stop talking.”

Then Alex shuts her up with her mouth. It’s rare, _really_ rare but every now and again she is given the opportunity to be the one giving orders, to be the one dominating and maybe exactly because it happens so _seldomly_ , it is all the more _exhilarating_. Usually, Reign never grants her this, never grants her to be on top for reasons, _oh_ but how she loves it, how does she love it to be the one guiding the Worldkiller into deeper and deeper kisses. It’s no surprise, really, that it doesn’t take long before their kisses grow sloppy and wet and heated, before Alex pushes her body closer to the Worldkiller and before Reign tugs on the redhead’s shirt.

The moment it hits the floor, Reign’s tongue is in Alex’ mouth and she cannot help herself but begins to rock down, into the Worldkiller’s lap, against her thighs, getting closer, closer, closer. Being with Reign is always so _different_ than being with Sam, in a way so _profound_ that she never tried to explain it to anyone, not even Kara because, how could she? How is she supposed to put into words that although the power dynamic with Sam is way more balanced and she bottoms for the unrelenting Worldkiller so often, it is Reign she wants to top more than anything at times.  Watching Sam fall apart between her arms is like a gift, she cherishes every time she is given it. In her head, watching Reign fall apart must be just as good, just as wonderful. She wants to see the Worldkiller’s face during climax, that moment of pure _extasy_ , _release_ and total _abandonment_. She wants to hear her voice, high and trembling and gasping her name as if she is Reign’s very own savior. And _maybe_ she is and _maybe_ she wants it. All of it. Now.

Suddenly, Reign jerks back into the couch, expression dark, fingers slightly trembling because Alex unhooked her bra.

“Please, babe,” she husks in the Worldkiller’s ear, working hard on not sounding _too_ desperate, “Please, let me touch you, too.”

“You know that is a bad idea.”

Alex cups her cheeks, kisses her sweet and deep: “I trust you.”

Tentatively, her fingers wander over Reign’s exposed chest. The Worldkiller inhales a sharp breath.

“I know you won’t hurt me.”

Alex bites her lip because Reign’s firm breasts under her calloused palms just feel so _heavenly_. Strong fingers twitch on her hip and on her ass with just a hint of the strength hidden away in them and somehow the looming threat of Reign letting her control slip, if only for a tiny second, is God damn _thrilling_. Alex begins to move her hands carefully, feels how Reign grows stiff and wanting under her and she tries to distract her with her mouth, distract her so much that for once she will be the one unraveling all the knots holding the Worldkiller together and make her come undone. They get lost in each other, in touch and taste and feeling. They are so far gone that they cannot be blamed for not hearing the key in the front door, for not hearing how someone comes into the kitchen.

“How mean of you to start without me.”

Alex lets out a surprised, high-pitched shriek, pulling Reign’s head forward to cover her state of undress and the Worldkiller lets out a muffled: “Hmpf!”

She knows this situation is _not_ like Sam walked in on her cheating, though, she splutters with bright-red cheeks nonetheless: “This isn’t what it looks like!”

Sam on the other hand, looks a kind of _pleased_ and _amused_ , she cannot comprehend in her current haze. Her breath hitches, not only because Reign exhaled forcefully against her nipple but because Sam is in one of her suits, it’s black and the sleeves of the blazer end slightly below the elbows, the waistband sits high and in the heels her legs look even longer. If that is possible at all. What makes Alex’ heart beat really faster, though, is her girlfriend’s eyes, which are the _darkest_ , most _vibrant_ amber she has ever seen. And that smirk playing around her full lips. Oh, it makes her shiver in _all_ the right places.

Alex cannot look away as Sam steps out of her heels, taking two long measured steps towards them. She thinks about leaning out of the way because, although, she doesn’t think that Sam is _mad_ , she cannot quite gauge what will happen next. But she cannot move an inch because Reign’s arms are wrapped around her tight, holding her right where she is, giving her zero room to move anywhere. So, when Sam leans across the back of the couch, over Reign’s shoulder, to capture Alex’ lips in a hungry kiss, _well_ , there is _nothing_ she can do against it except welcoming her, meeting her with just as much desire.

When Alex opens her eyes again, desire rushes through her like liquid fire because, dear Lord, this might be a scene from her dream in which Sam and Reign stare at her with blown pupils, looking ready to _devour_ her. Sam rests her chin on the backrest of the couch, her lips next to her twin’s jaw, husking: “I didn’t say you should stop.”

A satisfied smile blooms on Reign’s face, she tugs on Alex’ hips, begins to kiss a wet path from the crook of her neck down to the valley of her breasts.

“R…Reign,” Alex gasps, “What are you doing?”

It’s a miracle that she can still talk _at_ _all_ because the Worldkiller worked her up so much already that she is _throbbing_. And with Sam looking at her like this, like Alex is all she ever wants, like seeing her with Reign is satisfying a  secret desire of her own, good God, it’s enough to make Alex _shiver_ and _squirm_. She only _hears_ how Sam steps away from the couch into the kitchen, how she pours herself a glass of presumably rich, red wine because Reign released one of her nipples with a wet plop, softly blows cool air over it and Alex’ moan is not even _close_ to being quiet.

“Keep going,” Sam orders and Alex is pretty sure that she isn’t meant, and Reign follows  her sister’s words with pleasure.

She barely hears how Sam rounds the couch, moves the armchair next to the TV a bit and most likely sits down. To watch them. Alex cannot see it because her eyes are closed, and she is turned away from the TV, towards the kitchen but she can _feel_ Sam’s eyes on her and it already is almost as if they touch her both.

“She said not to stop,” Reign says, her voice low and husky. But always rougher than Sam’s. “So, I won’t stop.” 

Alex cannot argue with that, realizing that Reign will do _whatever_ Sam tells her to do and that she will be the very _last_ to object.

“Ok,” she stutters, her forehead resting against Reign’s her arms wrapped tightly around her shoulders. With a content hum, the Worldkiller rakes her teeth over Alex’ sensitive nipple while Alex’ hips grind into her. Her top and bra have long been flung somewhere else and she is left sitting in her girlfriend’s lap in a tight leggings and ruined panties. The material is not really thick, and Alex feels every movement of Reign’s fingers on her thighs and hips and ass almost as if it was skin on skin. So, when the Worldkiller’s touch grows stronger and her caressing into squeezing and she remembers that Sam is still watching them, silent but all the more intense, she really, _really_ , wants to get out of the damn pants. Sam must have read her mind: “Strip.”

Alex almost stumbles out of Reign’s lap, so fast does she try to get up. The Worldkiller lets out a low, annoyed rumble at the lost contact and then Alex is the subject of two heated gazes, making her skin _tingle_ and _prickle_ and something else _drip_. Her heart momentarily stutters and stumbles in her chest as her eyes land on Sam because, hot damn. She is sitting in the armchair, _just_ like Alex thought, a glass of wine in her right hand, _just_ like she thought, however she took off her blazer and her pants and sits with crossed, bare legs in the chair, her blouse hanging open, revealing dark green, laced underwear and oh boy Alex might have _fainted_ on the spot.

Sam looks like the picture perfect of calm composure, the quiet voyeur, though Alex can see that her heart is hammering because her pulse point is jumping like a bouncy ball. She swallows heavily, locks eyes with Sam and hooks her fingers in the waistband of the leggings. In contrast to Reign, who groans behind her when the leggings reach her knees, Sam barely gives anything away, yielding maximum control over her own desire. Only the twitch of her mouth, the deep breath she draws in and the way she subtly presses her legs tighter together, tell Alex that her girlfriend is close to _snapping_. Because Sam is always _good_ with control when she wants to and when she has to work this _hard_ to not let anything show ah _well_ then, she is close.

This realization simultaneously calms Alex down, knowing that the three of them are equally worked up and turned on probably on the verge on giving up on foreplay, ready to pounce on each other, and it makes her dizzy with want. When she bends forward to push the pants completely down her legs, Reign lets out a strangled: “A…Alexandra.”

And Sam bites her lip and she basks in the knowledge that _both_ these gorgeous women desire her with such a blazing intensity. Her panties quickly follow and for a moment, she stands between them, stark naked, while Sam and Reign stare at her with nothing but _want_ and _wonder_ and _awe_ in their eyes. The next moment, the Worldkiller pulls on her arm, pulls her back into her lap, because Reign is always the one with the _least_ patience.

“I wasn’t finished with you, yet.”

She kisses her roughly, sucks on her bottom lip until it is swollen, and Alex voices her pleasure in small whimpers and the way her nails dig into Reign’s shoulders. The Worldkiller breaks their heated kiss only to move her mouth back to Alex’ breasts and she is ready to combust right there. Moaning, she rolls her hips down and forward against Reign’s strong thigh, but the fleeting pressure is _not_ enough, is _never_ enough to quench her thirst.

“Reign, please,” she whimpers, searching with one of her hands for the Worldkiller’s wrist, “I need you.”

Reign moans, raises her head, staring with eyes black from desire up at her and her flushed face. Reign shifts her a bit in her arms, snaking one arm around her waist, her fingers splaying across her spine, so that her pelvis is pushed forward, and it is easier to reach Alex’ dripping center.

“Say it again,” Sam suddenly says from the armchair and Alex doesn’t hesitate one second because she needs Reign, _now_ , needs her girlfriend to _enter_ her and _fuck_ her and send her over the edge or she will surely pass out soon.

“Please, please, please.”

Reign has sweet, sweet mercy on her, slipping two fingers into her in a swift, powerful thrust and Alex cries into her shoulder and neck because Sam and Reign always now how she wants it and they fall into a hard rhythm of thrusting up and rolling down almost instantly. Then Reign shifts her palm, so that it presses against Alex’ throbbing clit, making her beg in throaty whimpers:

“Yes, right there.”

And Sam rasps, stumbling around the letters: “Keep going, Reign.”

When Alex comes, _hard_ and _fast_ , she is a hot mess, crying out both Sam’s and Reign’s name.

While the white, hot waves of pleasure slowly subside, she collapses in Reign’s lap, _panting_ and _breathless_ and _beautiful_. The Worldkiller carefully retreats her fingers, caressing her trembling shoulders and placing loving kisses against her jaw and forehead.

“Hey!” she mumbles startled when suddenly Reign stands up, carrying her the couple of steps through the living room before she sets her down in the armchair, sideways on Sam’s lap now.

Alex briefly considers complaining about being manhandled like this, that she is not a piece of whatever to be passed back and forth between Sam and Reign, though her protest fades away the second Reign places a kiss more on Sam’s jaw than her cheek, mumbling with tinted cheeks: “Welcome home.”

With a content sigh Alex leans her head against Sam’s sternum, smiling softly at her two lovers while Sam gives her twin an equally soft smile, tugging on her hand until the Worldkiller kind of hovers above them. For a human that position would have become _awkward_ sooner or later, balancing their body weight only on their arms, though Reign’s muscles are made of steel. They must _really_ look kind of _awkward_ like this with Reign standing in between Alex’ legs that are dangling over the armrest of the chair, more or less bend over the redhead, while Alex is caught somewhere between sitting and lying in Sam’s lap who simply holds onto both of them.

And when Sam kisses her finally after they waited half a day for this, passionately and hungry and Reign kisses down her neck, sucking on the creamy skin here and there until it turns purple, _well_ then Alex _really_ can’t believe it, close to completely loosing her head. Her legs fall open on their own accord, the moment she feels Sam’s hand wandering across her quivering left thigh and she is still so _wet_ , or even _wetter_ that Sam has no problem at all easing into her.

She moans at being entered a second time in such close succession and louder, whinier when Sam whispers hotly in her ear: “You feel so good, baby.”

Her rhythm is gentler than Reign’s, slower and Alex cannot decide if it is the _best_ thing ever or pure _torture_. She never comes that far anyway because suddenly Reign pulls on her hair kissing her breathless before asking: “Can you take another one?”

Sam’s breath hitches at the suggestion, her hand jerks, three knuckles deep in Alex, hitting that perfect, soft, spongy spot. She is sure at this point that she cannot say anything anymore except her girlfriend’s names, that every nerve end is on fire and her whole body so overstimulated that she wonders how she hasn’t come again, yet. She nods as best as she can. She feels like tonight she can take _anything_ Sam and Reign will give her, she _wants_ to take _anything_.

They kiss her both at the same time, on her cheeks on her lips and she cannot tell whose tongue she is sucking on or whose lips she tugs on and it’s _wonderful_ and _perfect_. Next, Sam slips a third finger into her and the sudden stretch is so _overwhelming_ that she arches her back, crying out: “Sam!” not even wondering how she doesn’t fall out of the chair.

“Good girl,” Sam whispers.

“So good,” Reign rasps.

At some point she honest to God, feels like crying because it is all _too_ much to take. How the two are so _sweet_ and _caring_ and constantly making sure that she is comfortable while at the same time frankly, they are _fucking_ her boneless.

Her second orgasm sweeps her off  her feet like a supernova because Sam hits that perfect spot deep inside her again while Reign circles her clit with her thumb and for one, blinding moment everything is _hot_ and _white_ behind her tightly closed eyelids. She falls back against Sam's strong arm and her chest, panting and gasping unable to move because she is sure she cannot feel her arms and legs right now. She already thinks she must melt so perfectly fitted between them before they even _really_ started.

After a couple of moments, someone moves her, but she hasn’t come down yet at all and cannot even open her _damn_ eyes because everything feels like water inside, _pulsing_ and _trembling_ from the glorious afterglow. She hears Reign and Sam talking in low, soft voices to each other, but it is as if someone put cotton in her ears and she only really regains her senses when she opens her eyes and realizes they are all in bed.

She is sitting against the headboard leaning slightly against Sam next to her while Reign is lying between her legs, kneading life back into the numb muscles of her legs.

“Are you good, sweetie?” Sam asks gently, running her long fingers up and down Alex’ left arm.

“Yeah…” she croaks, embarrassed that she already sounds so _hoarse_ , “You…That…” She grins, looking shyly from one to the other, “That was mind-blowing.”

“Are you already exhausted?” Reign asks, from the spot in her lap, one cheek resting on a thigh.

“No,” she laughs, caressing the Worldkiller’s hair while she laces her fingers with Sam’s. “I just need a moment.”

Both her girlfriends look at her skeptically and with raised eyebrows. “Or maybe two.”

She never wants this night to end, never wants to miss out on this absolutely ecstatic feeling of being loved so thoroughly by her girlfriends. It is _everything_ to put it simply and she cannot get enough. The combination of Sam and her sweet _tenderness_ and Reign and her sheer _power_ is more addicting that any drug in the world.

After a while, Sam asks in a low voice: “What do you want us to do?”

“What do you mean?” she asks, staring doubtingly between the twins.

Reign wordlessly begins to kiss the inside of her legs, feather-light and sweet and not more than a faint brush of her lips whereas Sam puts a hand on her cheek, turning her head until amber locks with hazel: “This has been your phantasy for quite a while now.”

Alex’ cheeks turn scarlet.

“Your dream,” Sam says with hooded eyes, “I’m sure there a couple of things you want us to do.”

“You…you know?” she mumbles.

Reign snorts against her knee.

“We know you, Alex.” Sam chuckles, “And you’re as subtle as a rhinoceros at times.”

Alex wants for the ground to open up and swallow her whole. _Of_ _course_ , she has ideas, _more_ than a handful but they are all irrelevant in the end because the only thing that is _truly_ important is that the three of them are together. That she is the filling in this delicious sandwich.

“So?”

They both look at her expectantly and Alex takes a heart, allowing herself _one_ of the phantasies that repeatedly plagued her at night to come true tonight. Because from now on they have all the time in the world. Right? Her eyes flicker towards the nightstand. She bites her lip.

“I want…”

She gulps because only from thinking about it her legs twitch and a new gush of wetness pools between her legs.

“Tells us what you want,” Sam says sweetly, stroking her cheek while Reign’s kisses wander higher and higher up the inside of her thigh.

“I want the strap-on.”

The Worldkiller sits up with shining, dark eyes, so that she is kneeling in front of Alex and Sam: “Which one of us.”

Alex looks at her, cheeks turning pink, eyes downcast: “You.”

Reign grins proudly as if she just won a bet and when Sam shakes her head amusedly, Alex wonders if _maybe_ they did bet. The bed dips and the next moment, Sam guides her gently down into the sheets until they are both lying on their sides and looking at each other: “Recently you forgot to delete your browser history.”

Alex has a vague, fearful idea where this is going because, _hey_ , she has been _lonely_ last week.

“Your porn was the first clue.”

She wants to hide her face in the crook of her girlfriend’s neck because she watched a _lot_ of threesomes recently but instead Sam peppers her face with kisses.

“And the way you always woke up drenched in sweat and as horny as you can be in the past weeks was the next clue.”

“Sam…” she whines, dying from shame.

Sam doesn’t care at all, though, stroking her sides, her hip and her back in long, sensual strokes: “The way you moaned our names in the middle of the night.”

“I’m _so_ sorry,” she mumbles.

Then the bed creaks again and Reign pulls at her right knee until she is lying on her back.

“Don’t be,” the Worldkiller says, pushing between the redhead’s legs until Alex’ knees rest on either side of her waist.

“We love you,” Sam says honest and sweet, gently taking Alex’ hands from her face, “Let us make you feel good.”

“Ok.”

How does she even deserve _any_ of this?

Suddenly there are wide, happy smiles on both Sam’s and Reign’s face as if they won the lottery and Alex is the jackpot and then Sam is kissing her, and Reign slips a finger inside her and she is ready to _melt_.

For once, the Worldkiller is _slow_ and _gentle_ , easing in and out of her in a calm rhythm that is close to driving her mad and Sam keeps kissing her deep and long, her hands wandering over her stomach, gripping at her hipbones, wandering back up to palm her breasts and it is _better_ than any dream she ever had. _Better_ than anything ever really.

Desperately, she reaches out for them, one hand lacing with Reign’s on top of the sheets, the other sneaking around Sam’s neck to bury her fingers in her hair. She needs to hold onto them somehow, needs them to anchor her in reality or she will simply float away from all this pleasure. Then Reign retreats the finger and lowers herself down, lets go of Alex’ hand only to pin her wrist down next to her ear, her other hand pushing against the headrest to keep her upright and the tip of the strap-on bumps against Alex’ pulsing clit, making her gasp.

Reign’s lips find hers the next moment and then the three of them are kissing in a whirlwind of teeth and tongues and _unhidden_ , _raw_ desire. Soon it becomes impossible for Alex to distinguish her girlfriends anymore because her eyes are shut tight and she feels and feels and feels. Someone sucks on her earlobe. Sam husks in a trembling voice: “Are you ready?”

Her heart lurches at the question, at the fact that although the two could do absolutely anything with her right now, they still make sure that she consents, that she wants this, too. She is sure she has never been _loved_ quite this much in all her life. It costs more strength than she would ever admit opening her eyes, keeping them open long enough to look at them staring at her _eager_ and _hungry_. And although her whole body trembles and twitches and she isn’t sure that she will not come the moment Reign pushes into her, she nods, chocking: “Yes.”

Sam and Reign share a brief glance, shuffling and shifting a bit around Alex. Reign brings her second hand down on the covers and Sam moves a bit up to be still able to kiss Alex, her hand finding Alex’ that the Worldkiller is still nailing to the mattress. Reign kisses her again and Alex gasps again because she places her free hand against the Worldkiller’s cheek and she feels her trembling, too. It hits her like an epiphany that the twins just _maybe_ want this as much as she does, that they are turned on beyond words, too, no matter how composed they still seem.

Any coherent thought, though, instantly stops when Reign rolls her hips forward, thrusts the whole six inches into Alex until skin connects with skin. She raises her legs until her knees bump against Reign’s elbows and her hand claws at Reign’s shoulder and she must break the kiss because with each perfectly timed, deep thrust Reign draws moan after moan and higher and higher whimpers out of her. Her rhythm is sensual, is teasing, pushing Alex to her limits, making her wonder how she even holds out anymore. Not before long, though, Reign loses patience, like always, going in _deeper_ and _faster_ , making the bed creak in the same rhythm that her hips snap forward. Alex is waging a war against herself to _not_ come because _not_ yet, _not_ so fast because she wants to draw this out until the _very_ last moment.

She cannot help herself, though, arches her back so much that her shoulders and head dig into the mattress and she isn’t sure whose moans drown out the sound of wet skin on skin. Maybe it was her own because suddenly Sam’s tongue is in her mouth, she’s cradling her face while Reign bites and nibs at her neck and the moan dies away. Alex feels how her walls begin to clench around the toy, how her insides turn hot and liquid and suddenly she pulls away from Sam with her last effort, choking out breathlessly: “Stop…hold on…hold on.”

Reign obeys instantly and the two pull away slightly, only enough that they can look at Alex with worried faces.

“Are you ok, sweetie?”

“Did I hurt you?”

The familiar, hot sting of tears pools in her eyes because of just _how_ much they care. She must gulp down some mouths full of air to make her head stop spinning, to find the right words.

“I’m good…you’re good…you’re perfect.”

They look less worried now.

“What is it?” Sam asks softly.

Alex is overcome out of nowhere by the desire to not be the only one losing her very mind in this and she looks at Sam with lust filled, heavy eyes:

“You, too,” she pants, “I want to make you feel good, too.”

Sam and Reign always give _so_ much, always treat her _so_ well that she wants to give back something, especially today. Sam’s breath hitches, her eyes widen and she unconsciously licks her lips: “How?”

Out of the blue, Alex cannot wait one second longer to taste her, rushing out without hesitation: “Up. On my face.”

They all move at once: Reign pulls on Alex, still nestled deeply in her, leaving her hands where they are, gripping Alex’ waist, Sam settles on top of Alex, her back against the headrest and Alex shuffles until her girlfriend’s gorgeous, glistening center is right above her mouth: “My God, you’re so wet.”

Her mouth waters.

“Only for you,” Sam moans, balancing herself with her hands on Alex’ ribcage, the tips of her fingers brushing with Reign’s. She doesn’t waste anymore precious time, licks one long stroke through Sam’s wet folds that makes her jerk and moan and it is music in her ears. The familiarity of Sam’s taste makes her plunge her tongue in as deep as she can, and she can feel the cum already dripping down her chin.

She is so concentrated on Sam, so wrapped up in her _scent_ and _taste_ and _touch_ that she almost forgot about Reign who picks her rhythm back up, so suddenly that Alex moans against Sam’s clit and the vibration causes her to gasp: “Alex!”

While Alex is swept away in a storm of pleasure and heat she marvels at how _perfectly_ they fit, as if they were _always_ meant to be, as if it was _always_ the three of them engaged like this. Part of her wants to hold this moment forever, push pause like in her dream because she has never felt quite like _this_ with Reign plowing into her _hard_ and _powerful_ leaving her surely unable to walk tomorrow and with Sam grinding into her face, _shaking_ and _desperate_. But of course, it is Reign who snaps first, who loses control. She is more the instant-gratification type in contrast to Sam who most often only finally gives in when she has Alex begging for it. The Worldkiller's grip on Alex’ waist tightens so much that she will leave bruises the form of handprints and she begins to rail her into the mattress as if she wants to break her in two. And Alex _loves_ it, the _rawness_ of it, the passion, telling her how barely Reign can control herself. How hard Reign must be fighting against her own body to not simply break the delicate, human body in her hands. And then she hits that one, perfect spot again and Alex is so _overwhelmed_ by it that she releases a guttural groan into Sam’s thigh, biting hard into the soft flesh, prompting Sam to cry out on top of her, pushing harder on her ribcage, barely able to keep herself up anymore.

Suddenly they all feel that they are _close_ , that they cannot hold back anymore, needing their release just as much as breathing.

Reign wraps her arms around Alex’ waist, lifting her ass from the covers, thrusting even _deeper_ into her, although Alex hadn’t thought that was even possible. Meanwhile Alex circles Sam’s clit with her tongue pushing two fingers into her and Sam struggles enough only with keeping upright. At some point, Alex swears she hears them kissing which sends a new spike of desire through her and then her orgasm literally _explodes_ in her.

Sam is sobbing her name on top of her and she tries her best to guide her through her own orgasm, but Reign doesn’t stop, grinds into her until a second orgasm rips through her and Alex simply dunks out for a moment because, oh sweet _Jesus_ , _everything_ is on fire, _every_ nerve-end a spark and it is _too_ much to handle.

Sam slumps sideways onto the covers, panting heavily, Reign collapses on top of Alex even with her Kryptonian stamina and Alex just lies there, boneless and thoughtless, trying to come back down from the highest high ever.

They all need a pause but, oh boy, they aren’t finished yet.

Neither of them wants to be the first to give up, although, Reign has an unfair advantage in that department. Reign steadfast refuses, though, to be on the receiving end of either Sam or Alex due to her powers and her fear of breaking a bone or two if she gives up her perpetual position of control. Alex will take Kara aside one of the following days having a long and awkward conversation with her about Kryptonian-sex-precautions. Now, Sam kisses her cheek, saying in the most innocent voice that she would like to be fucked into oblivion now and from then on it all falls into place.

Alex and Reign trade the strap-on and the attached panties after cleaning both pieces. When Alex is pounding Sam into the sheets, a look of sheer determination on her face, Reign is leaving dark marks all over her neck and shoulders, one hand palming her breast the other in the panties rubbing at Alex’ center and she loses count of how many times she came in that night, where one orgasm even ends and the next begins because this is _more_ than she _ever_ knew she wanted.

One time, Alex straddles Sam's lap, her neck craned back and head leaning on Reign’s shoulder behind her and they both enter her at once and her nails dig so deep into the hot, slick flesh between Sam’s shoulder blades that she draws blood. They go on like this for hours and hours, and Alex loses track of everything, losing herself in Reign and Sam and their bodies and sounds and taste.

It must be the early morning when they finally collapse onto the bed in a tangle of sweaty, sticky limps, when they finally wear each other down and at least Sam and Alex cannot move a single muscle anymore. Sam is curled up against her side and Reign is lazily draped half over her body and the ceiling is still spinning while they all still catch their breath.

“I love you both so much,” Sam mumbles against Alex’ neck, gently pushing her fingers through Reign’s hair.

Alex holds tighter onto them, dropping a kiss onto Sam’ forehead.

“Me, too,” she says, heart overflowing with a hundred, _blindingly_ beautiful emotions, “I love you.”

Reign shifts quietly between her legs, pushes her face closer into Alex’ belly: “I…Me…” she stutters uncharacteristically.

She shares a warm look with Sam then her girlfriend curls a hand around her twin’s jaw, lifting her head a bit: “We know, Reign.”

Alex reaches a hand out to run a thumb softly across her cheek: “We know, babe. Don’t force yourself.”

Reign presses her lips together in embarrassment, shuffling upwards to plant a kiss on Alex’ lips as compensation for the words she cannot say. She wants to say it but she feels like a hypocrite talking about this most important of all human emotions without understanding it. She has an idea of what love must be like because she sees it pass every day between Alex and Sam and she knows her own feelings for them are close to what they are supposed to be but she cannot be sure. And until then she cannot say those three words because telling someone you love them without _really_ meaning it is the most horrible lie in the world. Sam kisses her cheek, whispering: “We love you anyways, Reign.”

They remain cuddled up like that for a little while longer because, _hey_ , after-care is very important, until Alex complains that absolutely everything smells like sex. Reign has to steady them both as they stumble into the bathroom. It is the second miracle of the night that they all fit into the tub without swamping the bathroom. Then the two humans shamelessly pamper the Worldkiller who has no room to flee, perfectly stuck between them and before they all fall asleep, they drag themselves back to the bedroom. While Sam and Reign change the ruined sheets, Alex cleans the toy again and when the sun creeps up over the horizon they contently settle under the covers, all wrapped up in each other in a perfect happy bundle.

 

* * *

 

 

It is close to noon the next day, when Alex cracks an eye open.

At first, she wonders why she woke up at all because her body feels so _heavy_ , is _aching_ in so many places that she surely could have slept a couple of hours longer. But then Sam’s worried face hovers over her and she realizes that the brunette is shaking her shoulder: “Alex, wake up!”

She sounds close to panicked and she snaps both her eyes open: “I’m up. I’m up. What is wrong?” she says groggily.

Sam motions to the other side of the bed.

It is empty.

“Reign is gone.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will go straight to Hell for this but I think that's worth it.  
> I decided to split it this time probably into two or three parts because the word-count escalated quicker than Kara eats a pot-sticker.  
> I hope you liked the 'story' so far and show me some love or criticism in the comment section.  
> Tbc with the ANGST!


	2. The Wake Up Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reign is gone. What now?
> 
> Find out why Sam feels like the worst person on earth,  
> Why Ruby is horrible at soccer and doesn't even care  
> And why Alex struggles to keep her little family from falling apart.

* * *

 

 

Alex blinks her eyes a couple of times to make sure that she is actually awake, but the covers next to her remain empty.

“Where is she?”

Sam is half kneeling on the bed, she notices now, nervously rubbing at her wrists. It’s a habit of hers ever since she started to wear the inhibitor bracelets Lena designed, though, now after the split her wrists are empty. The silver bands are fitting snug around Reign’s wrists for two days, now.

“I don’t know,” she says agitated, “I woke up because she was gone a-“

“Hold on,” Alex interrupts her, slowly shaking the drowsiness off, “You woke up _because_ she was gone?”

Sam interlocks her fingers, tightly, desperately making her gut churn with worry. “Yes. I knew she was gone before I opened my eyes. I felt it.”

“Maybe she is just downstairs making a mess in the kitchen again.”

Sam, however, cannot be soothed, the worry etching deeper and deeper into her features. “I’ll check on Ruby,” she says, jumping up, “Maybe she knows where Reign is.”

She is out of the room before Alex even has the chance to stand up. Which turns out to be a bad idea.

“I’m coming, too,” she shouts after her girlfriend, swinging both legs over the edge of the bed, “Wai- Oh shit.”

Her knees are wobblier than jelly and she must steady herself on the nightstand to not go tumbling to the floor. Girl, what a night. Shaking her head, she slaps some sense back into her numb muscles. She much rather would fall back into bed with her favorite girls than going anywhere. One missing Worldkiller smells like trouble, though, and she eventually wills her body to obey her. While she carefully shuffles to the door, she realizes that last night _really_ happened. Various spots all over her body remind her only all too well of it either because they are _sore_ in that wonderful way or _tingling_ as if her skin still echoes her girlfriends’ touch.

In the doorway, she almost collides with Sam who looks even more upset: “Ruby is gone, too.”

With one arm, Alex supports herself in the frame, the hand of the other runs over her crumpled face. That neither the Worldkiller nor the teenager are where they expected doesn’t mean automatically that something _bad_ happened. Alex usually is more relaxed about stuff like this than Sam, which is not really a surprise because she only started the whole mother-thing ten _months_ ago, whereas Sam started thirteen _years_ ago. She definitely has quite the lead. Alex laces their fingers: “Don’t worry.  I bet they are downstairs,” she gives her a reassuring smile, “Ruby probably tries to teach Reign making pancakes again. You’ll see. Kitchen looks like a minefield.”

Sam looks unconvinced, her brows furrowing, her jaw working. It is these daily situations surprisingly when Alex is the most grateful about her hard training at the DEO because her legs finally work again, and she doesn’t look like a drunkard anymore as she leads Sam down the stairs. Nonetheless, she feels the afterglow of Sam and Reign inside her with each step, making her bite her lip to not _wince_. Sam lets go of her in the hall, bursting into the living room and kitchen like a force of nature and worried kind of does _not_ cut her current state anymore. The room is empty and while Alex slowly begins to worry, too, Sam is close to full-blown panicked. The last time Ruby disappeared she ended up being almost squished to death by a crane. Not a good thing to be thinking about right now.

“Where are they?” Sam asks, looking at her scared and nervous only for the fraction of a second before her eyes jump all over the place again.

As Alex lets her own eyes wander from the kitchen, over the couch to the living room, she notices a couple of things: there are two used mugs and bowls next to the sink, Reign’s cloak is gone, someone wiped up the muddy footprints on the floor and fixed the broken handle on the door. She raises an eyebrow. How long have the two been up?

The door to the garden is standing wide open.

“Hey,” she motions for it with her head.

Sam is wordlessly storming outside the next second, in a wild frenzy. Alex is close behind, coming to a slithering stop with her bare feet in the damp grass, the very next moment, though. Oh, oh. Sam has gone from panicked to furious in the blink of an eye, her whole body is rigid from anger and she is screaming so loud up at the sky that Alex flinches behind her: “Reign Arias! Get down this instant!”

Right before they become a black smudge, she sees Reign ten feet above ground and Ruby on her back, holding onto the Worldkiller’s wide cloak wrapped around them both. She cringes when they land because _damn_ Sam looks livid, as if she will ground them both until college, her hands in her hips, looking like a radiant earth-goddess ready to unleash her fury. Alex is _so_ glad to not be in their shoes.

Reign lands effortlessly a couple of feet away from them, apparently already suspecting that she is in deep, deep trouble. Ruby doesn’t see it coming, yet, climbs down from the Worldkiller’s back, her cheeks shining bright from excitement and the fresh air: “Mom, did you see this? It was so cool!”

Sam is ready to explode and Alex steps closer to her, naively hoping to calm her down: “Baby?”

But she doesn’t seem to hear her at _all_.

“What were you thinking?” she says with grinding teeth, her voice dangerously calm.

A quiet sky right before a thunderstorm. Her eyes emit sparks as they jump between her daughter and her twin.

“How could you be this irresponsible!”

Reign averts her eyes and crosses her arms in front of her chest. Ruby is still wrapped up in the cloak and the Worldkiller is left standing in the garden in one of Alex’ hoodies and dark jeans. The numerous scratches have already healed, her face not showing any trace of the injuries anymore. Alex sees that she feels guilty, that she knows that she did something wrong, though she is too stubborn to admit that. Ruby finally catches on too, staring even guiltier between her mother and Reign.

“It’s not her fault, mom,” she says in a small voice, “I asked her to take me flying.”

Sam sends her a glance that would even make the fiercest criminal cower in a corner: “Get inside.”

“But, mo-“ She raises her hands, the palms outward, taking a protective stand in front Reign. Alex’ heart jolts _bittersweet_ in her chest seeing her daughter standing up like this.

“I said get inside. Now. You’re grounded.”

Sam is way beyond reasonable, totally _not_ giving a damn about Ruby coming to Reign’s defense.

“It was my idea,” the girl mumbles crestfallen, big tears pooling in the corners of her eyes, though when she opens her mouth to say something again, Alex vehemently shakes her head.

It would be _way_ better for her to accept her lot for now than trying to argue with Sam in this state. Pouting defiantly and wrapping the cloak tighter around herself, Ruby storms inside. That leaves the three adults alone in the garden in heavy silence. Desperately, Alex tries to come up with a way to sooth the wildfire between her girlfriends, to save this morning from tipping into a nightmare. She comes up empty handed.

“Guys…” she says carefully but the two are engaged in a staring match to the proverbial death. Alex is left to stare helplessly from one to the other.

“You could have dropped her,” Sam says eventually, each word sharper than a knife’s edge, “You could have gotten her killed.”

Reign holds tighter onto herself, looking pretty miserable, making Alex wish that she could help her somehow. She shuffles her boots in the soft grass, saying in an equally small voice as Ruby: “I would have never dropped her.”

Sam scoffs, voice growing louder; “It’s not about what you did or didn’t do,” she shouts exasperated, “It’s about what _could_ have happened!”

The situation is growing worse by the second, reminding Alex about the fight she had with Sam after telling her about Reign sharing the same body as her. Since then she has never seen her girlfriend this _downright_ furious and it sends a shiver down her spine because, good God, Sam is _damn_ scary like this.

“I just…” Reign starts buts Sam cuts her off, her tone cutting, so angry that she doesn’t realize how hurtful her next words are:

“You what?” she spits harshly at the Worldkiller, “You just did what you were told?”

Suddenly, it is deadly silent in the garden. Alex finally tries to step between them, to calm them both down, already fearing how this will end. She holds her breath. This is not going to end well, this is going to end in _catastrophe_.

“The last time you did what you were told you killed people,” Sam shouts, tone toppling over into shrieking.

Reign’s face remains completely expressionless, she stands as still as a statue, showing no anger, no hurt, nothing. Alex in contrast flinches under the words because, dear God, of all the things Sam could have hurled at her twin this was the most _horrible_ , the most _painful_. Sam takes a couple of deep, trembling breaths, her whole body shaking from anger then she turns on her heel and rushes into the house, probably to give Ruby a lecture now. Alex remains indecisively in the garden, staring in shock and disbelief after Sam then looks at the Worldkiller with a guilty expression. As guilty as if she said those awful words herself. Maybe she should have _said_ something, maybe she should have _done_ something but the nagging feeling in her stomach insistently tells that the damage is done now.

“She’ll  calm down, you’ll see.” She stutters, helplessly, “She didn’t mean it like that.”

For the fraction of a second, she suddenly sees how the mask slips from Reign’s face, how her expression crumbles and she looks so _hurt_ , so _sad_ with tears in her eyes and trembling lips. It breaks her heart. Alex can make two steps towards her before the Worldkiller pushes off the ground and is gone in a flash. Alex would swear that she saw the tears fall. She shouts after her, against the roar of her girlfriend’s departure but it is useless.

Reign doesn’t come back. Alex can barely keep her own tears at bay.

 

.

 

Sam closes the bedroom door as gently as possible with the anger inside her still making her blood boil.

Ruby has stubbornly and quietly accepted her punishment of being grounded for two weeks, having to endure it without her laptop on top. She didn’t so much as look at her because she decided to stare at the wall instead wrapped up in Reign’s black cloak, so only her head poked out. Outside in the empty hall, Sam finally calms down, the rage and panic loose their grip on her poor heart.

Her first clear thought is that she _maybe_ went a bit overboard with her reaction but bear with her because when it comes to Ruby and her safety, shit, she sees _red_. Just like Reign does when someone only _potentially_ lays a hand on Alex, she snaps as soon as she _senses_ danger around her daughter. As a mother, she not only thinks about the things that do or do not happen but about the hundred things that could happen, too, without anyone’s intention. And ever since Ruby walked straight into a conflict between Supergirl and Psi last year out of _spite_ to proof that her mom had super-powers, Sam got a little, how do you say, _overprotective_. Not that she really believes Reign would jeopardize Ruby’s life so easily but thinking again about what _could_ have happened is enough to make her pulse race. That someone might have seen the two flying over the suburban back-yards or even worst _filming_ them, is frighteningly the _least_ worst that could have happened.

Their lives changed so drastically in the past year and a half and generally speaking she would say for the better because she got an amazing girlfriend and a sister of some sort and _life_ is like it’s supposed to be. One of the very few downsides of this development is that Sam and Ruby fell headlong into a world filled with dangerous aliens, angry meta-humans, gang fights and a whole lot of other stuff she doesn’t even want to think about and oh my, keeping her headstrong teenage daughter out of trouble never felt more difficult.

She lets out a long breath, briefly hiding her face in one of her hands. She feels a particular kind of horrible since the split, making her tense and edgy and she _hates_ it. At first, having her body back again felt really, really good. Not having to share _every_ single thought anymore, not having to listen to _every_ offhand comment by Reign anymore and, as embarrassing as it sounds, _finally_ being alone in the bathroom again. And the things they could do with Alex now, by God, she didn’t know _how_ much exactly she wanted _that_. She quickly had to realize, though that she missed Reign more than anyone ever before in her life. Sharing a body with her, being with her in such an intimate way became so normal that she has no clue how to handle the soul-wrecking loneliness that overcame her the first morning after the split. She wonders if this is how real twins feel that grew up separated, always being aware that something crucial is missing in their lives.

And all of a sudden, she is sorry for the way she blew up at Reign, at least a little because her sister probably feels the same kind of uncomfortable as herself. Part of her is still angry though, angry at Ruby for using Reign’s gullibility like that and at Reign for not denying her daughter anything apparently on the one hand and not seeing the danger in taking Ruby flying on the other. Reign generally _dislikes_ humans, mistrusting them on principle, though, when it comes to their family, oh well, Ruby could tell her anything and the Worldkiller would believe it. She sighs again, already thinking about a way to make her twin understand why her behavior was problematic without losing it again as she makes her way downstairs.

She half hopes, and half expects to find Reign and Alex in the kitchen, but no one is there, the door to the garden standing wide open. She steps back outside, crinkling her brows when she only spots Alex, standing lost and forgotten in the middle of the grass. Reign is nowhere in sight. Something _ugly_ is cramping behind her belly.

“Alex, where is Reign?”

Her girlfriend turns around, eyes red and shining from unshed tears: “She is gone.”

She freezes: “What do you mean? Gone?”

Alex wipes her nose with the back of her hand: “Gone. As I said. She took off.”

Ice-cold fear creeps through Sam’s veins and for a moment she thinks she cannot breathe anymore: “Why?”

Alex gives her a hard look, rubbing angrily at her cheeks: “Maybe because you brought up the Worldkiller thing.”

Sudden realization hits her with the force of a sledgehammer. “Oh God…I didn’t…” she chokes out, pressing her hands against her mouth.

What did she do? With puffy cheeks but dry eyes, Alex walks past her into the house.

“I think she was crying,” the redhead says bitterly in the frame of the terrace door.

Before she knows it, panic rushes over her again like a tidal wave, dangerously close to carrying her away.

“Reign!” she screams at the top of her lungs.

But only a couple of startled birds answers her, taking flight from an oak in the neighbor’s garden. She shouts again and again, her heart clenching painfully, until her tears spill over because she just gets no answer. The sky remains empty, safe for a couple of thin clouds. Reign is nowhere in sight and Sam feels like the worst person _ever_. This is her fault and now she cannot even apologize. How could she have said _that_? Bringing the time up when Reign was still a full-blooded Worldkiller, a _killer_. It is a touchy topic for her anyways, the struggle of coming to terms with what she did, the process of making Reign understand that the murders were wrong and that they simultaneously are not her fault. Not entirely at least. Sam knows that it is one of her twin’s worst fears of ever being overcome by the violent impulses inside her again and here is Sam blaming her for not being cautious enough. It is, by all means, the literal _worst_ she could have said. 

 

.

 

The day turns into one of the gloomiest Saturdays in a long time.

Ruby stays in her room, hiding under the Worldkiller’s cloak, sulking tremendously while Sam hides away in her office at home, staring blankly out the window, waiting desperately for her twin to return. Alex roams restlessly through the house, paces for half an hour in front of Ruby’s bedroom and Sam’s office and ultimately unable to talk to either of them because she is definitely _no_ expert in the feelings department. With a heavy heart, she decides to do something useful, something that might keep her mind from going into chaotic overdrive. Sam notices that Alex finally fixed the lightbulb in the bathroom when she takes a shower in the afternoon and when she gets dressed in their bedroom, she spots the redhead outside doing gardening in a pair of old cargo-shorts and a thick flannel.

Any other day, Sam would have called her inside because, damn, she _loves_ it when Alex gets all handy around the house, fixing stuff but today she tears up because gardening has become Reign’s thing recently. That she picked _gardening_ of all things as her one and only hobby is almost _comically_ considering how easily Reign is swept away by mood-swings, is ticked off and blows up. To Sam, it is just another proof of how _soft_ the brazen Worldkiller is on the inside.

The absence of her other half suddenly overcomes her like a black cloud that persistently refuses to leave her alone, the hole in her seemingly increasing with each passing hour she spends rooted on the spot. All of her thoughts circle around the questions where Reign is, how she is, if she takes care of herself or is ready to endanger herself and others in her pain. She obsesses over it for hours, going in the same cycle over and over again, ultimately making no progress whatsoever. Most of the day has passed when Alex tentatively opens the door, just a still shadow in the frame. She stands quietly behind her for a couple of moments, making Sam wonder if she is mad, which maybe she _should_ be.

“I made dinner. I thought you might be hungry.” She doesn’t sound angry, more the kind of heavyhearted that Sam feels.

“I’m so sorry,” she sobs with shaking shoulders as a response.

She hasn’t cried for the past hours but now the tears flow unhindered down her cheeks. The fact that Reign is gone alone hurts _so_ much that it is almost unbearable, additionally her daughter doesn’t speak to her and if Alex is angry with her, too, then she _might_ feel like hiding here forever. Alex quietly rounds the swivel chair, tugs Sam upwards, guiding her into a warm embrace. It makes her only cry harder.

“I’m not the one you need to apologize to,” she whispers softly, “Tell her when she comes home.”

Sam nods weakly against her chest. She will apologize to her twin as often as it is necessary if that is what it takes to make her come back to them. She will do _anything_. Ruby is already sitting at the dining-room-table, still clinging to Reign’s cloak, still looking grumpy.

“Where is Reign?” she asks with a very teenage-like scowl while Alex dishes the casserole out.

Sam intently stares at her plate, reaches out for her girlfriend’s hand under the table, unable to meet her daughter’s piercing stare. She feels a pang of relief to have Alex by her side in this moment because sometimes her arguments with her daughter last for days and being without Reign currently renders her incapable of behaving like an adult. Alex gives her hand a little squeeze: “She took some time to think, sweetie,” Ruby looks skeptically, narrows her eyes dangerously and presses her lips together in a thin line. “You know, to cool off.”

The teenager pokes the food as if she wants to murder it: “Some time? That was five hours ago.”

The accusation is as loud as whiplash, making Sam sink further into the chair.

“Ruby,” Alex sighs, “Maybe she just needs a little more time, ok? And now please eat your food.”

Both Arias women seemingly have trouble eating. Ruby shoves food in her mouth as if it is responsible for Reign’s departure and to Sam every bite is as heavy as a stone. It doesn’t take long before a fork clatters onto an empty plate: “There,” Ruby huffs, “I’m done eating can I go now?”

Sam feels Alex’ eyes on her, though, she simply continues staring apathetic at the potatoes. Alex must have nodded because next a chair screeches and she notices her daughter leaving the table in the corner of her eye.

“Mama?”

“Yes?”

“Can you take me to the soccer game tomorrow?”

“Sure, sweetie.”

Two minutes later, Sam hears a door bang and Alex gently takes the fork from her hand. She puts the food and plates away in silence and when she is finished, she takes Sam by the hand again to lead her to the couch. Sam notices that Ruby left the cloak downstairs and snatches it from its spot on the empty chair before curling up against her girlfriend on the couch.

“Are you angry at me, too?”

“I think you overreacted, but I also know where you came from.”

She feels like crying again because, hell, she never thought she could miss someone _this_ much.

“I’m so sorry,” she mumbles against Alex’ chest.

Strong arms wrap around her, holding her tight: “I know, baby.”

“I miss her so much.”

Alex kisses her temple: “Me, too.”

And then Sam breaks down completely, crying her heart out against her girlfriend’s shoulder because even in the arms of the woman she loves, she feels _lonely_ in a way that no one can fix except the lost Worldkiller. Alex remains by her side through the sudden eruption of pain, rubs her shoulders and holds her and is simply _there_ which might be the most important thing, that she doesn’t leave her in her misery because she might deserve it. She cries so much that she gets light-headed after a while and dozes off from the exhaustion.

When she wakes up, it is already dark outside. The next moment, she jolts upwards, the warm cloak gliding from her shoulders. Frantically, she searches the room, but she doesn’t see Reign anywhere. With the realization she sinks into herself again, back to being _upset_ and _sore_ , though, she should have known because Reign would have probably squished herself right between her and Alex if she were back. The TV is on, some zombie show runs on almost mute that Alex and Lena recently started to watch. Alex is not really watching, she realizes, her dark hazel eyes trained outside, on the darker garden. When her girlfriend notices that she is awake, she asks: “Hey, how are you feeling?”

Sam wraps the cloak tighter around herself, basking in her twin’s slightly tangy scent. “Better,” she mumbles even though she wants to say _empty_.

She knows it is unfair wallowing in her pain so much when Alex must feel similarly hurt, when she is similarly doomed to helplessly wait.

“I’ll go outside,” she says, standing up from the couch, kissing Alex on the cheek and walking into the garden.

She sits down in one of the comfortable lawn chairs, draws her knees up against her chest and stares hopefully into the clear sky. The moon is not more than a sickle, a bright jag in the dim darkness, surrounded by thousands of twinkling stars. Any other night, Sam would have marveled at such a beautiful night sky, now she looks up at it like a hunter into the covert waiting for the glimpse of a shadow, of a movement, telling her that her wait is over. But nothing moves in the sky except some satellites, Reign remains gone and Sam’s heart _sinks_ , and _breaks_ and _aches_.

She doesn’t know how much time passed when Alex steps out onto the terrace eventually, however, the wind picked up, it is downright chilly now and pitch-black because the moon is hiding behind clouds.

“She still hasn’t come back.”

Alex sits next to her, puts a hand on her knee, saying: “I can see that.”

She reaches for her girlfriend’s hand with trembling fingers, daring to ask the one question that weighs down on her soul so heavy that she feels like suffocating:

“What if she doesn’t come back?” She turns her head to look at Alex, the tears pooling hot in her eyes, her voice growing thick, “What if she doesn’t come back home?” The thought is so horrible that the tears spill over, “And it’s only my fault.”

Alex wraps her other arm around her shoulder, pulling Sam tight against her chest. She is always strong for Sam, always her stone to lean on and her shield to protect, hiding her own pain to sooth that of others. She knows, though, that Alex is hurting, too, that Reign’s absence is not easy to handle for her either.

“I’m sorry,” she says for the probably hundredth time today. It’s still not enough.

Alex kisses her head softly: “We love Reign,” she says, leaning back a bit to cup Sam’s face, “She knows that. And she loves us, too.”

Sam nods tentatively. Reign often thinks and behaves in ultimatums and binary patterns. The world is gray, though and exactly those are the areas that are hard to grasp for the Worldkiller. What does Reign think now about Sam after their argument?

“What if she thinks I hate her?”

Alex makes a low, thinking noise while drawing random patterns on Sam’s back: “Then you have to show her that that’s not true when she is home,” Alex mumbles quietly, “And if she doesn’t come back home tomorrow, we’re going to look for her.”

Sam nods against her sternum: “Ok.”

During their conversation the wind freshened, and it gradually became darker because more and more clouds gathered in the sky. Sam shivers even under the cloak and in Alex’ arms.

“Let’s go inside. We have to get up early for the game tomorrow.”

She thinks guiltily that Ruby technically only asked Alex to take her. It would be the first time that her daughter doesn’t want her to watch, sending sharp pangs through her heart and it _hurts_. They settle quietly into bed with Sam turned towards the window, snuggled up safely against Alex. She left Reign’s cloak reluctantly on the couch, embarrassedly thinking that it would be too childish taking it to bed. When the first heavy raindrops hit the window, she slides into the kind of unrelaxing sleep that happens when your consciousness is too preoccupied with processing how shitty the day was. Her last coherent thought is that Reign is all _alone_ outside in the upcoming storm.

And Sam promised Reign that she never has to be _alone_ again.

 

.

 

Reign is surrounded by a lively group of people.

It’s Saturday evening after all and the alien bar remains a singleton in National City’s bar-scene. The sounds are annoying her, the cheerful laughter, the clinking and snapping sounds of a pool game, the music. She just wants it all to go away, that the world around her is as empty and quiet as she feels on the inside. She sits at the far end of the bar, far away from everyone else, _mute_ and _brooding_ , downing one shot after the other. She is hurting and desperately struggling to not let it show. So, she does what any human would do and surprisingly a handful of aliens, too, sitting just as bend at the bar as herself: she drinks the pain away.

She doesn’t have that much experience with alcohol and isn’t sure if the tunnel-vision and the pounding in her head is a good or bad sign. It helps to quell the throbbing in her chest, though, so she continues. It is still difficult to believe that Sam really said those awful words to her, Sam of all people who knows her deepest fears better than anyone. It makes her wonder if she was wrong about humans all along that love is not as unconditional as everyone always makes it sound, that maybe being _loved_ also always means being _hated_. It calls all the times into question that Sam and Alexandra said they love her. After what happened today, she has trouble believing that any of those times was even _real_. It makes her doubt that she ever even grasped the concept of love and that _maybe_ she has been wrong about it all along. The bottomless sorrow she feels because she is without Sam and Alexandra, however, indicates that she simply cannot be _that_ wrong.

Since the moment she took off in the garden, she thinks her heart must be continuously breaking over and over again. This is almost as bad as ten months ago when Sam’s consciousness disappeared, and she was all alone in their body. The only difference this time is that she knows Sam is alive and well. Her eyes feel wet all of a sudden and she wipes a hand across her nose. Rao be damned, she will not cry. She is a Worldkiller for Yuda Kal’s sake. She is proud and powerful and does _not_ cry. She puts another shot to her lips instead.

“Hey, I know you,” the bartender says while rinsing a couple of glasses in the little corner, “You come here quite often.”

He is a young Talokit, with the typical jet-black hair and light-blue skin. His smile seems friendly and genuine, though, she is definitely not in the mood for any kind of conversation tonight.

“Where is the pretty red-headed human that’s always with you?” The shot glass crumbles in her hand as if it was made of paper. She hears him flinch without looking up: “Yikes. Not a question to be asked tonight, I guess.”

Reign doesn’t even look at him as she slurs: “Another one.”

After more shots than fingers on both her hands, the miserable Worldkiller sips on a glass of Monkshood. The spicy drink got its name from the plant it is being obtained from, the buds looking like little, purple hoods. Reign doesn’t care about it, only cares about the numbness the pastel purple drink leaves in her. In her daze, she notices that it gradually became quieter around her, the laughter died down, then the pool-game and now the music. The Talokit walks around the room with a broom, already pushing the chairs onto the tables. He’s closing the bar. With more than slight difficulty, she gets up from the stool. For a split second, she smiles thinking that she will go home now, slip into a _warm_ bed, slipping between two even _warmer_ bodies waiting for her. With the force of a punch, she realizes the next moment that she cannot go home because Sam probably _hates_ her, that she cannot go anywhere really, that she has not anywhere to go. Forcefully, she pushes the sadness back down under the pleasant numbness. As she staggers to the exit, the bartender yells after her: “Hey, wait up! You haven’t paid, yet.”

She turns around, one hand on the door: “Write a tab,” something clenches painfully in her chest, “On Danvers.”

He calls something after her about not writing tabs, but she doesn’t hear him because, Rao be damned, outside it is pouring. She puts the hood of Alexandra’s sweater up, that will not help at all keeping her dry and begins to trudge drunkenly into the night. For a while, she stumbles aimlessly through the heavy rain until she is wet to the skin. She considers going to the DEO, but the chances are too high that she will run into one of her so-called _friends,_ which would result in her having to explain why she is not home or maybe even in running into Kara and that is the last thing she wants. After some time, the empty streets around her begin to look familiar and when she raises her eyes from the ground and the drenched boots, she notices the familiar contours of the L-Corp building.

She scoffs, blinking water out of her eyes. Looks like her subconsciousness is _not_ a fan of her forced separation from Sam and of _course_ leads her to her twin’s work place. It is as good as any other place, though, and she casts watchful glances left and right, fixes the hood firmly on her head and pushes off the ground. Drunk flying turns out to be more difficult than expected and oh wow if keeping in the air was _hard_ already, then keeping a straight line seems downright _impossible_. She smacks into a window pane on the sixth floor. Grumbling, she rubs her nose and forehead, further ascending while swerving heavily. Her head is spinning, she feels strangely exhausted and nauseous when she finally stumbles on all fours on the wet surface of Sam’s balcony.

The roofing is rather narrow, creating an even narrower sliver of dry ground and the dripping wet Worldkiller crawls into a corner, pressing herself as best as possible against the glass, so just _maybe_ she will not drown in the downpour. When the wind changes directions, she is occasionally hit with a gush of ice-cold water, but she stubbornly refuses to think that this is _not_ better than sleeping under a bridge. As a Kryptonian, she could of course simply have melted the glass with her heat-gaze and peacefully sleep on the comfortable couch only ten feet away but then she would have had to break a door again, and maybe someone would have found her in the morning and, hands-down, she is scared that Sam will get even _more_ upset with her if she breaks into the office. So, she curls in on herself, draws her long legs to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and leaning her pounding head against the cool glass. Of course, she could have always gone home, too. Home to Alexandra and Sam and the child.

Part of her simply cannot, though, because shortly after the split a tiny voice far inside her head began to tell her that she has no place in this family by herself. She is terrified of the mere possibility that _home_ shoves the door in her face if she comes knocking at it. Another part of her is angry, _angry_ and _disappointed_ that her twin thinks she would endanger the child like that. Freezing and miserable, she presses further into the corner on the balcony, snuggling deeper into the hoodie that smells like both Alexandra and Sam. It’s both _sweet_ comfort and _cruel_ torture being surrounded by their scent like this. Nonetheless, she inhales deeply through the nose.

All on her own, she feels like a stranger in this world. She doesn’t understand its language most of the time. And the world doesn’t see her struggle. And because Reign knows exactly zero healthy coping mechanisms and killing someone or burning down a building are out of the question, she is left to wallow in these intense emotions. Because no one is here to see her weakness and it is raining anyways, she lastly allows herself to cry. If someone had told her that _love_ would hurt this much a year ago, she would have never opened her heart to anyone.

 

* * *

 

 

Sam slept barely at _all_ last night.

Every couple of hours, she woke up with a start either because she thought she heard a noise, automatically thinking it must be Reign or because she had a nightmare, dreaming that something terrible happened to her twin. Curling against Alex’ side, she was able to fall back asleep every time, though not for long. The space left in the bed was _vast_ and _loud_ in the middle of the night, making it visible that someone was missing and forcing Sam more than once to swallow a new onslaught of tears to not wake Alex up. At seven,  she gave up on sleeping altogether, stealing quietly out of the bedroom.

Now, she is on her third cup of coffee, staring wistfully out into the garden from her spot at the kitchen counter. She flinches when she hears someone pad into the kitchen. Alex has a case of _bad_ bed-hair and heavy bangs under her eyes. “How did you sleep?” she asks gently, her soft hazel eyes asking wordlessly if she can do anything for Sam.

Sam twirls the mug in her hands: “I feel like I didn’t.”

Then she feels Alex stepping closer, turning her body on instinct to meet her. She reaches one hand out to curl in the loose shirt her girlfriend wears to sleep right as their lips meet in a soft kiss. Alex tastes like spearmint. Sam leaves the taste of coffee in her mouth. Alex’ steady heartbeat under her palm probably is the only thing holding her together, keeping her from shattering, keeping the Reign-sized hole inside her from consuming her whole. She takes the coffee from Sam, drinks a couple of sips then asks in a faint voice: “She didn’t come back?” Sam shakes her head, pressed against the redhead’s chest. “I guessed that much.” To her surprise, Alex chuckles: “I bet she would have been outraged that we didn’t wait up for her like a welcome committee if she was here.”

Sam wishes she could laugh, though the idea is so realistic that her throat constricts, keeping any sound from escaping. While Alex prepares a new coffee for Sam because she finished the last one, she says: “I’ll wake Ruby up and take a shower.”

“Ok,” Sam mumbles, still staring outside.

The fresh coffee is slid between her hands and then she is alone again. Until lighter footsteps near the kitchen, ten minutes later.

“Morning,” Ruby says gruffly, preparing cereals.

“Morning, sweetie,” Sam answers, not sure if her daughter is still on the outs with her.

Ruby doesn’t look at her as she hesitantly asks: “Did she come back?”

She swallows heavily: “No.”

Ruby bangs the fridge-door so hard that the bottles inside rattle. After a beat of silence between them, Ruby turns around, sniffling and with red eyes: “I wanted Reign to see me play today. She almost understood offside and now she won’t come because of you.”

The guilt weights heavier than a ton of bricks. Usually, Sam doesn’t cry in front of Ruby because _damn_ it, she is the adult, she must be _strong_ for her daughter but during all the time it has only been the two of them, Ruby saw her break down a couple of times and right now she cannot keep the tears in any longer. It is a wonder that she can still cry at all, that her body can still produce tears because Yuda Kal have mercy on her, she thought she was all cried out.

“I’m so sorry, sweetie,” she gasps, burying her face in her hands, “You’re right it is my fault. I was too harsh, and I hurt her.”

Suddenly, there are slender arms around her trembling shoulders and locks tickling her wet cheeks and Ruby mumbles: “It was my fault, too.” Sam holds onto her for dear life.  “I shouldn’t have asked her because I knew she would do it even though you forbit it.”

“I shouldn’t have yelled.”

“I’m sorry, mom.” Ruby sniffles.

“I’m sorry, too, baby.” Sam says, stroking her daughter’s hair.

They both jump a bit because Alex hugs them out of nowhere: “I’m glad you two made up,” she says kissing their hair, “Should we have breakfast now?”

Sam and Ruby prepare the food while Alex reads the newspaper and sets the table. Neither of them is actually hungry and they eat mostly out of obligation. “Can we go looking for Reign when she hasn’t returned after the game?” Ruby asks in a small voice, playing with the remaining cereals in the bowl that are completely sodden.

“That’s a good idea,” Sam answers, nibbling on an apple slice. Alex nods, too.

“I’m going to change,” the girl says, putting her bowl in the dishwasher. Before she leaves the kitchen, she looks at Sam with big eyes: “Aren’t you going to get ready, too?” Sam looks back quizzically. “For my game,“ Ruby clarifies and leaves. A small, genuine smile flits across Sam’s face for the first time since Reign left. Alex gives her a tentative, reassuring smile of her own.

The game passes fast and devastating. Ruby plays _violently_ and _determined_ , causing more than one foul, lacking the usual joy of her play and her mothers are not much different. They watch so quiet and grim that most other parents give them a generous body-swerve. Ruby’s team loses, and the girl never cared less about it. She doesn’t even properly say good-bye to her team-mates, dragging the adults back to the car without changing out of her sweaty tricot.

One hour later, the three are on the way to the city-center. During the ride to L-Corp, Alex calls J’onn asking innocently if _maybe_ he has seen Reign today or yesterday. He negates. L-Corp turns out to be a dead end, too and they hurry on to the last place they can think of where Reign might be or might have been. They leave the Chrysler in L-Corp’s parking lot and walk the short distance to the alien bar.

“What if we don’t find her today?” Ruby asks.

Sam casts Alex a helpless glance. As far as they know, Reign could be literally anywhere, hiding in the Andes Mountains in South America, trudging through the Sahara or being snowed in in Tibet.

“Tomorrow is Monday and if we haven’t found her till then and she didn’t come back, I’ll let the DEO know,” Alex says confidently, “Winn can find anyone.”

Ruby nods absentmindedly. When the nondescript entrance to the alien bar comes into view, she huffs: “I’m glad Reign didn’t see me play, today. I was awful.”

“She’ll be happy to watch next time,” Sam tries to cheer her up.

Ruby rolls her eyes: “Only because you make her. As if she cares for soccer.”

“Well,” Sam smiles because she knows it is true, “She cares about you.”

A small blush blooms on her daughter’s cheeks: “It’s still good that she wasn’t there today,” she mumbles, “Reign would have set that one defender on fire for that foul she pulled.” A nasty bruise on Ruby’s thigh vouches for that.

“Totally,” Alex laughs and then she pushes the door open.

“We’re not open, yet,” a young man with black hair and blue skin tells them disinterested who is currently putting the chairs down.

Ruby instantly grabs her mother’s hand, stalking towards him with the uttermost determined and serious expression on her young face: “Have you seen this woman yesterday?” She points a finger at Sam who is a bit taken by surprise.

“Listen girl, first this is no place for a teenager and seco-“ there his voice dies away, and his eyes widen. “You!”

“Me?” Sam says startled.

“Good thing you came back,” he huffs annoyed, “You forgot to pay.” He raises his right eyebrow challengingly.

“She was here?” Sam exclaims, turning her head left and right, although it is clear that Reign is not here anymore.

The man narrows his eyes, leaning in to whisper to Ruby: “Why is she talking about herself in the third-person.”

“Let me clear that up for you,” Alex steps in between them.

She takes her FBI badge out, flipping it expertly in his face before letting it vanish in one of the pockets of her leather jacket again: “FBI Agent Danvers. I’m investigating a missing person case.” Ruby looks at her in unhidden awe and with sparkling eyes.

“Danvers?” he says, narrowing his eyes.

“Uhm…” the three women look at each other in surprise, “Yeah?”

The bartender nods towards the bar: “You’re the one who’s going to pay.” He begins to cross the room: “She…” he looks briefly at Sam, “That woman yesterday said someone named Danvers would pay her tab.”

“At least she didn’t just leave,” Alex huffs, then adds: “Show me.”

Sam and Alex cringe in sync when the bartender slides the heavily scribbled-on tab towards them: “Jesus, how much did she have?” Alex wonders.

Ruby heaves her torso on the bar, whistling loudly: “She must have been deadass drunk.” All three adults stare at her in shock: “What?”

“Ruby, what did I tell you about swearing?” Sam scolds her, cheeks warm from embarrassment.

“It’s only ok when you hurt yourself or the person you curse is really mean.”

“What?” Sam whirls around to Alex who blanks.

“Oops,” Ruby grins, “Must have been mama not you.”

The bartender looks between them with raised eyebrows. “Ok, I don’t care who is allowed to swear when,” He holds his hand out, “Who is paying?”

Alex reaches for her wallet: “That’ll be me. She is my worl-“ she starts but then Sam steps on her left food. Intentionally. Worldkiller. She wanted to say _Worldkiller_. “My wonderful girlfriend,” Alex corrects awkwardly. Sam rolls her eyes and Ruby shakes her head.

“And who is she?” the bartender asks, confusedly pointing at Sam.

Alex slabs a fifty dollar bill on the bar, reaching with her other arm around Sam’s waist, a wide grin plastered on her face: “My other girlfriend.”

For a second, he looks between them, mouth agape, then he blushes furiously. Alex’ smirk widens until Sam slaps her chest: “Stop looking so pleased.”

“Flirt somewhere else,” Ruby chastises them, “Some people are trying to solve a missing alien case here.”

That is enough for the poor bartender and he kicks them out with the words that _no_ he doesn’t know where Reign went last night after leaving the bar.

 

.

 

Gloomily and discouraged, the little family returns home. Ruby is the first out of the car and the adults hear her yell Reign’s name as soon as they enter the house, first loud and excited then fainter and fainter.

“I just hope she didn’t get into trouble,” Sam mumbles, taking two beer out of the fridge.

“I worry about her, too, you know,” Alex says, plopping the bottles open, “But she is a big, Kryptonian girl. You know she can handle herself.”

Sam looks at her skeptically: “When she is drunk and with her impulse control?”

Alex has nothing to come back with at that, wordlessly joining Ruby on the couch. They all snuggle under Reign’s cloak in a big bundle, trying to watch a movie and giving up half-way through. Ruby pulled up family pictures on her phone, pictures of Reign’s birthday they celebrated at the end of February, the day of her merge with Sam. Reign wearing a party hat, looks grumpier than that one grumpy cat on the internet. Alex tells the story again how Reign saved her when she jumped out of the burning DEO last year. Sam tells how Reign over-heated the coffee of a misogynistic investor nine months ago, making him squeak like the pig he was. And Ruby tells how clumsy Reign was at the ice-rink when Maggie visited two months ago. They reminiscent until they run out of pictures, until their hearts stretch with melancholy because they all miss the Worldkiller _terribly_.

 

* * *

 

 

Lena’s lips stretch into a wide, amused smile the next morning.

She lies in bed, covers securely wrapped around her bare chest, sipping on a steamy mug of tar-black coffee. Her emerald eyes rake over her girlfriend’s half-naked body at the end of the bed.

“Is this better?” Kara asks with flushed cheeks, throwing the third cardigan over the fifth button-down.

She has an appointment for an important interview later in the morning and the excitement and wish to look extra professional make it unable for her to decide on clothes. Lena hides the leer behind the coffee: “Maybe try the blue and white check-mate again,” she purrs, “It looks lovely with the cardigan.”

Muttering under her breath, Kara begins to unbutton the shirt again, at human-speed, and Lena settles further into the cushions with a satisfied sigh. Oh, these abs. Suddenly, a phone chimes on the nightstand and without tearing her eyes away from Kara because as _if_ she would miss _that_ show, she takes the call: “Luthor.”

“ _Luthor?_ ” the caller echoes, “ _Sorry, must have hit the wrong speed-dial_ ,” Alex says confused.

Lena chuckles: “It’s alright. You called the right person. Your sister is currently a little…” she makes a pause, leaving plenty of room for interpretation, “Preoccupied.”

Normally, Alex would imitate puking sounds by now, telling her to stop being gross and that she can do well without too much information. Today, the line remains suspiciously silent.

“ _Could you please give me Kara?_ ”

She sounds morose, prompting Lena to arch her perfect eyebrows: “Alex, is everything alright? Did something happen?”

The Agent doesn’t answer her for a while then mumbles: “ _Please, just give me Kara_.” She wants to protest at being left out, though, Alex adds: “ _Reign is gone_.”

Lena instantly pushes the covers aside, stepping towards Kara who looks nervously at her, smoothing out non-existent wrinkles in the shirt: “How is thi-“

Lena cuts her off gently but insistently: “It’s Alex,” She gives her the phone: “It’s important.”

 

.

 

An hour later, Sam and Alex come clean about the missing state of the Worldkiller in front of Kara, J’onn and Winn.

Ruby is at school and Lena stuck at the ten o’clock meeting at CatCo. Alex pushes a hand through her short hair, letting out a heavy sigh because Sam spent half the night crying in her arms and she just felt so damn _useless_. There is nothing she can do to ease her girlfriend’s pain and equally little she can do to bring Reign back. Running aimlessly through town when Reign might be elsewhere is pointless but without bringing the DEO into the loop that was the only thing she could do. Totally pointless. Totally useless.  And if Alex hates one thing, it is helplessness, being forced into not doing anything.

Kara has a mild breakdown, fearing that Reign will go on a rampage through the city and that all their hard work of the past couple of months will be for nothing, that if the Worldkiller lashes out in her pain, the people of National City will only see a threat in her again.

“She is hurt, Kara, not angry,” Alex says heatedly whereas her sister responds with narrowed eyes:

“It’s a fine line between pain and anger.”

In the end, Kara promises to keep her eyes and ears open for Reign and that she will sweep the city right now, Winn promises to use any camera in the city he has access to and the Kryptonite trace in Reign’s inhibitor bracelets and J’onn suggests organizing a small emergency search-party. Sam follows the two out of the war-room, with  a hanging head and hanging shoulders, feeling even more helpless than Alex because all _she_ can do is watch, watch and hope and beg Yuda Kal to guide Reign home. A handful of Agents listen attentively to Alex explaining the situation briefly, only telling them so much that Reign disappeared and that the redhead is to be contacted immediately if anyone finds the Worldkiller. Most of the Agents look serious and like they will treat this mission with the same professionalism as the any other one, though, one of them has his arms crossed in front of his chest, staring at Sam in displeasure, an ugly sneer turning his angular face into a grimace. She stares back, her shoulders straight and her gaze unwavering.

She doesn’t like him. Not one bit.

The way he scoffed when Alex explained that absolutely no one is to approach Reign on contact and God forbid use any kind of weapon on her, was enough to make Sam _anxious_ and _tense_. That guy looks like he would happily gun down any alien running into his line of fire. When the small search party prepares to leave, strapping on vests and checking their guns, the guy says, tone totally condescending: “Can’t believe we are being dispatched to look for Danvers’ missing girl.”

Sam whirls around, feeling the anger climbing in her veins, scorching hot, at his comment and the way he acts as if this is just a nuisance to him.

“Why do we even care? With Supergirl no one needs that killer anyways.”

Sam, frankly, _looses_ it. Everything is horrible enough without that prick behaving like a pretentious bastard. She doesn’t need anyone talking down on Reign like that or threatening their chances at finding the Worldkiller. What she _needs_ is having her other half back. Kara was right a moment ago, saying that the line between pain and anger is _fine_. With hands balled into fists and shoulders trembling from holding the rage in, she stalks towards him: “What did you just say?”

The man looks only mildly interested at her. Maybe with her status as a mere civilian now her authority at the DEO vanished.

“No one needs her,” he sneers disparagingly.

Sam feels like wiping it out of his face with a well-placed slap. One of his fellow Agents mumbles alarmed: “Malloy, that’s enough.”

He only scoffs: “We have to clean up after her even more often than after Supergirl in the first year. She only causes trouble.”

The next moment, Sam is onto him like a beast, _unbound_ and _wild_ and ready to unleash her pain on him: “How dare you talk about her like that!”

The first punch hits him square on the jaw: “She is out there. Risking her life every day for scumbags like you!” she screams at him.

He is too shocked to move but before she can land a second punch, arms wrap around her waist, lifting her from the ground so, she is kicking at the air.

“Calm down, Sam. He is not worth it,” Alex whispers soothingly in her ear.

Sam trashes in her arms because _shit_ she wants to hit that guy again and again. It is not only her natural protective instinct making her lose it like this but the indescribable guilt, too. Due to what she said to her twin in the garden, she is not better than him and at that realization her stomach _lurches_ and she feels _disgusted_ with herself. How, just _how_ , could she have said that? Alex walks a couple of feet away from Malloy to defuse the situation, setting Sam back down, though, keeping her arms around her because she is still struggling and wriggling. Malloy, however, is an idiot and an asshole in the true sense of the words and _Jesus Christ_ he doesn’t know when to shut up:

“Yeah, better keep your woman in check, Danvers.”

He mutters under his breath, just loud enough for Alex and Sam to hear. Alex’ muscles twitch dangerously, and Sam thinks that maybe she should turn around and that Alex has to be restrained now. The redhead’s calm composure is running thinner the longer Reign is gone and although she was strong and supportive for Sam the past two days, Sam knows that she is close to losing her last nerve, too. She remains calm, for now, the muscles stop twitching, her teeth stop grinding and Sam doesn’t feel her exhaling forcefully into her neck anymore. That is until Malloy pulls the last straw: “Bet the killer was sick of not having a man around to show her a real good time. Am I right?”

No one laughs. You could hear a pin drop.

And before Sam even realizes that the hold on her is gone, Alex vaults Malloy through the air like a doll. “You fucking asshole!” she screams, grabbing him roughly by the collar of his vest, ready to punch his lights out, “Take that back!”

The Agent struggles weakly on the floor, looking ready to pee his tactical pants. Part of Sam really, really wants to let Alex beat that prick up. But he is not even worth it, and it would help no one. Carefully and admittedly half-heartedly, she tries to pry her furious girlfriend away from him. She is as steadfast as a mountain, keeping Malloy pinned to the ground, cursing him as loud as he curses her. Surprisingly, no one else attempts to step in, the Agents that are watching seemingly thinking that Malloy deserves the knee grinding between his shoulders. In the end, Sam has to call for J’onn because without Reign inside her, she has no chance of restraining Alex like this.

“Danvers! Malloy!” he bellows, separating them like two fighting children by the collars of their shirts, “This is enough!”

“She started it!” Malloy shouts, pointing an accusing finger between Sam and Alex, his face contorted by ugly anger.

“Oh yeah?” Alex comes back at him, rolling her right sleeve up, “There is more where that cam-“

“Agent Danvers!” J’onn says firmly, looking as close to _angry_ as Sam has ever seen him. “You will not be part of the mission today,” he says turned to Alex then he looks at Malloy, “And you will be assigned desk-work for the next two weeks.”

Both Agents instantly start to protest but when J’onn stares daggers at them, signaling that there is absolutely no room for discussion, they both decide to fume in silence. Alex sends Malloy one last death glare, grabs Sam’s wrist and storms towards her lab. Muttering under her breath, she paces up and down in front of the swivel stool Sam sits on. Sam just waits for her to calm down on her own because, Jesus, in this state Alex doesn’t even listen to her. At some point, it looks as if the redhead would release her anger on the lab supplies, ultimately, though she stands with grinding teeth in front of the desk, managing it to let the fury slip away. Instead of making micemeat out of the lab, she steps between Sam’s legs and into her waiting arms.

“That dick.”

“I know.”

“He deserved a couple more punches.”

“Yeah, he did.”

Alex’ fingers curl around Sam’s shoulders and she rests her head against Sam’s forehead with a long, defeated sigh.

“How dare he talk like that about Reign.”

Sam retreats a bit from the tight embrace, tugs on her girlfriend’s elbows while leaning upwards. “She will come back,” she says with a small hopeful smile, being the confident one for a change. Then she places a long, reassuring kiss against Alex’ lips.

“I miss her so much,” Alex mumbles, nuzzling her nose against Sam’s and kissing her again.

Sam stays in the lab with Alex for a little while longer. Since they are there, Alex draws the brunette’s blood to conduct the same tests as on Reign to finally eliminate any last worries about the split and Sam bravely endures the prick of the needle without a wince. Afterwards, she must leave for work. Reluctant to go, she kisses Alex a little more, makes her promise to not get into more fights and that she will call as soon as they hear anything about the missing Worldkiller.

It turns out rather quickly that Sam just as well could have stayed at the DEO because, for the love of God, she cannot concentrate one bit on work. She cannot escape the vicious cycle repeating endlessly in her head, conjuring up one horror-scenario after the other. That Reign hurt someone. That she got hurt. That some xenophobic human captured and tortures her. That Reign _hates_ her. Hours must have ticked by without her notice, with Sam staring blankly at the black computer screen in front of her.

“Sam?”

She jumps in the chair, hitting her right knee on the underside of the desk at the soft, hesitant mention of her name. Lena stands right in front of her _unsure_ and _worried_ : “Are you alright?”

She has been never further away from _alright_ ever before in her life. Except the one time Ruby caught a fever when she was five and she had to rush into the emergency admission at the hospital. Oh, and the one time she was technically dead for two months. Her friend must have sensed it, too.

“Oh, honey.” Lena puts a hand on her shoulder, strong and supportive, guiding her gently to the couch: “What happened?”

She pushes a hand through her hair, tucks loose strands behind her ears, rubs her wrists nervously. She is barely able to stutter the following, broken words: “Reign and I had a fight.”

Lena waits patiently for her to go on, to make the last of her strength return, to find the right words. She isn’t sure how much longer she can endure this separation. “I said awful things to her.”

A hand lands on her knee, gives it a little squeeze: “I’m sure she will-“

Sam cuts her off, squeezing her eyes shut so tight that red spots dance behind her eye-lids: “No…Lena…I did.” She shakes her head, in _sorrow_ , in _shame_ , licks her lips: “I did say horrible, awful words to her and now…she…she hates me.”

The last part is torn between a sob and a choke. Lena’s hand moves from her knee to wrap around her hand: “Listen to me, Sam.” She raises shining amber eyes to meet with green as calm as a meadow. “I admit I barely understand Reign. And I understand your connection…your link witch each other even less.” She makes a pause to place her other hand against Sam’s cheek, to look deep into her eyes: “But what I know…what I see…is that she cares about you. You and Alex saved her from succumbing to the murderer inside her. You showed her another way. And she loves you for that.”

At her tender, honest words, Sam breaks out into tears. Eventually, Lena sends her home, tells her to not even think about work until Reign returned. Like in trance, she picks Ruby up from school and the two spend the rest of the afternoon on the couch, sharing Reign’s cloak and a container of strawberry-cheesecake ice-cream. Alex can’t offer any news when she comes home in the evening, looking frustrated and tense.

At half past eight, Sam takes her daughter to a birthday party of one of her teammates from soccer, a girl going to the same school as Ruby and Kerala. The girl insists on not staying for the sleep-over, insists on sleeping at home to not miss anything. Sam puts her daughter’s overnight bag on the backrest, in turn insisting that it would be good for Ruby to think about something else for one night than Reign. Ruby ultimately gives in under the condition that they call her instantly when _anything_ happened.

Sam is back home for not longer than twenty minutes when Alex’ phone goes off.

“I put you on speaker, J’onn. Sam is here, too,” she says nervously, looking deadly serious. Sam grabs her forearm viselike, her heart bobbing in her throat.

“ _Ms. Arias_ ,” he greets her formally.

“Agent J’onzz,” she replies in a rush, “Do you have any news?”

He makes a surprised sound: “ _I expected to just call you so that you can tell Reign to be careful._ ”

“What are you talking about, J’onn?” Alex asks agitated, holding the phone in a death-grip.

“Do you know where she is?” Sam exclaims, voice cracking and she stares simultaneously desperate and hopefully at Alex.

“ _I thought she already talked to you?_ ”

Alex sighs and her voice shivers with tension: “J’onn, please just tell us where she is and what happened.”

He clears his throat: “ _A gang shooting escalated on Sixth at the level of Austin Str. Looks like the Expatriates might be involved and some unknown technology. She must be careful._ ”

“Don’t tell me she is alone in there?” Sam asks shocked.

“ _Human Agents secure the area, but this is a job for Supergirl and Reign._ ”

“And where is Supergirl?” Alex hisses.

“ _Already on her way, but as I said they must act with caution. Winn was able to identify some of the weapons._ ” He makes a foreboding pause. “ _It’s DEO tech._ ”

Sam clasps both hands in front of her mouth whereas Alex curses: “Shit!”

Wide-eyed and scared they stare at each other in silence. Then Alex turns the speaker off, saying determined: “Keep me posted, J’onn. I’m on my way.”

Without another word, she ends the call, staring grim and dark at Sam: “I’ll bring her home.”

She is in the hall, grabs her helmet and throws on a leather jacket before Sam can shake the stupor off. Then she follows her.

“I’m coming with you,” Sam says firmly, grabbing the second helmet in adult-size from the coat hanger.

Alex whirls around: “Absolutely not!”

The two stop dead in their tracks. There is a dangerous glint in Sam’s eyes: “What?”

“I said-“

“I know what you said,” Sam cuts her off harshly, “That was a what of disbelief not of hearing problems.”

Alex shakes her head, crinkles her brows: “I cannot take you with me.”

“And what do you think I would do instead? Sit at home twiddling my damn thumbs?”

Rao be damned, that is the _damn_ last thing she will do. She will go with her girlfriend and not return until Reign is safe and sound. How does Alex get the _ridiculous_ idea that she will accept being left behind like that?

“Did you ever wonder why Lena is never on a mission? Oh, right because it’s too dangerous,” Alex says back angrily, dead-set on keeping Sam in the house.

“Don’t get sarcastic with me, Alexandra, not now.” Sam warns her and oh, oh she uses her full name, “And Lena is used to it.”

Alex lets out a humorless laugh, “So, you think that makes it any easier for her?”

“I don’t know. All I know is that I’m not used to it,” Sam throws her arms in the air in frustration, “I’m not used to sitting at home not knowing if my girlfriend and my sister come home tonight.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Alex says in a sudden, small voice, shaking her head, “You’re a civilian now, Sam. I cannot let you in a battle-zone.”

Sam sounds calmer too, all of a sudden, more hopeful, as she says: “You could protect me. You could keep an eye on me.”

Hearing that is Alex’ worst fear, the frustration and anger in her chest get chased away by blinding, white panic and fear, all of a sudden: “I can’t, ok?!”

Startled Sam takes a step back, her amber eyes wide and fearful: “Alex…”

“I can’t protect you both. I couldn’t protect either of you the last time and because of that-” she inhales a shaky, watery breath, her resolve finally crumbling. “Because of that I almost lost you and I cannot risk that again.”

Her shoulders are shaking when Sam wraps her arms around her. She has no recollection of the time she was _gone_ , so to speak, she hasn’t seen how much her family suffered and if Alex’ shaking, broken frame is any indication, she definitely doesn’t want to know. Alex hid her own pain so well the past days to be there for her that Sam never realized how hauntingly much this must remind her of March last year.

“It’s ok. I’m here.”

Alex retreats from the embrace after a handful of moments, blinking tears away: “I can only take you to the DEO not any further.”

Sam nods: “That’s enough. Just don’t make me wait here until you two come back to me.”

While they take Alex’ motorcycle to the city center at lightning speed, Winn calls them.

“ _I have never seen technology like this. They must have gotten their hands on DEO armory because the radiation is similar_.”

“Radiation of what?” Alex’ voice crackles in Sam’s helmet.

“ _The red-sun radiation. They use projectiles emitting the same frequency as our grenades but somehow their stuff is way more potent_.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Alex rumbles through gritted teeth.

“ _You know that a red-sun prevents Kryptonian powers and that we tried to achieve that while we still fought against Reign with the grenades?_ ”

“Yes, Winn, we do know,” Sam rumbles impatiently.

“ _Ok, now listen. You also remember that our grenades never did much damage to Reign because she works differently than Kara. These guys found a way to improve the intensity of the artificial red-sun radiation_.”

“Get to the point,” Alex says, maneuvering the motorcycle between two trucks to overtake them, “What does this mean for Reign?”

Winn swallows. Sam’s heart stops beating, and she holds on to Alex for dear life. “ _She lost her powers._ ”

 “God…no,” she sobs while Alex curses again. She revs the engine and suddenly they blast so fast into a curve that Alex’ knee almost scrapes the concrete because the Ducati dips so severely.

“We’re on our way to the DEO. I’ll drop off Sam and then I’ll get to scene.”

Sam knows that the redhead only sounds so calm because she hides her panic like that because she focuses every sane thought on getting the Worldkiller out of that damn nightmare. Reign being caught in a gang shoot out without her powers is worse than any scenario Sam came up with.

“ _No!_ ” Winn suddenly shouts, “ _Stay at the DEO. Kara got Reign out and they are coming here, too._ ”

“Understood,” Alex rumbles, revving the engine so much that it drowns out any other sound.

 

.

 

“This is humiliating,” Reign grumbles, decidedly not looking at Kara.

The blonde is currently carrying her like she always carries Alexandra and they are shooting through the sky on their way to the DEO.

“Do you want me to drop you?” Kara says dryly, “I bet Alex and Sam would chop us both into fish bait.”

The Worldkiller clicks her tongue dismissively, crossing her arms in front of her chest. It’s mostly to hide how nervous she is that she will see the two again after almost three days. Being powerless is downright odd, everything feels like an effort after a while and she simply couldn’t believe how slow and weak humans are. It would be hilarious if she didn’t feel exactly like it currently. The only positive thing is that it makes Alexandra even more remarkable, that she can keep up with the heroes, although her body is so, well, _feeble_.

“Are you nervous?” Kara asks while in the distance the two DEO towers rise into the night like two monsters with a hundred lighted eyes.

“Nervous? Me?” Reign blows air through her lips in offence, “No.”

She sounded a tad bit too insistent and Kara briefly giggles. One minute later, they land on the balcony and because Reign jumped eagerly out of the blonde’s arms, she goes crashing to the floor.

“Whoa there,” Kara reaches out for her but the Worldkiller shakes her off, grumbling embarrassedly:

”I can walk myself, Zor-El.”

Kara pulls her up by the elbow nonetheless. “Just take it easy.”

Together they walk into the med-bay. Reign begins to fiddle with the bracelets, an annoying habit she copied from Sam.

“You gave them quite the scare,” Kara mumbles next to her, playing with her cape. Reign doesn’t answer, shoves her hands in the small pocket of the hoodie in front of her stomach and tries her best to look stoic: “You gave us all quite the scare.”

The Worldkiller buries deeper in the hoodie: “They were not scared they were angry.”

Kara puts a hand on her elbow in the entry of the med-bay: “Sometimes humans say things they don’t mean. They care so much about you.”

Reign scowls: “How do I know they mean it when they say they care?” She wants to sound disgruntled but what comes out is closer to _uncertain_ and _afraid_ : “How do I know they mean it when they say they love me?”

Kara gives her a soft, understanding smile: “You just do.” Reign stares at her in disbelief. “It’s trust, Reign.” The Worldkiller looks still unconvinced and Kara shakes her head in mild amusement: “Let me ask you one thing. Did you ever feel like Alex and Sam didn’t mean it when they said they love you?”

Reign sits down on one of the empty beds and Kara turns the sunlamp on. Now that she thinks about it. Her train of thought suddenly gets interrupted because someone yells her name outside in the hall. Two people are approaching fast, she hears it in their hasty steps and just like that the sound of two frantic heartbeats reaches her, heartbeats she tried her hardest to ignore in the past two days. Kara hears them, too, hears the panicked yelling, too: “They are not angry, Reign.”

She sends her a doubtful glance, grapples with _fear_ and _worry_ to remain hidden within her. She cannot answer Kara because in the next moment the door to the med-bay bangs and for the blink of an eye, she stares at Sam, at her wide amber eyes swimming in tears, her red wet cheeks, her whole pain ridden appearance and Sam stares right back. Then she rushes forward, hauling herself right into Reign’s arms. The second they touch, Reign is overwhelmed by an onslaught of emotions. The unbearable loneliness is lifted, replaced by the tender, soothing feeling of belonging, the pain falls away, the doubt and she is _home_.

She releases a strangled, staggering gasp into Sam’s hair. Something warm and wet drips onto her neck and she swallows her own tears. Sam knocked into her with so much force that they both hit the mattress and while Reign begins to reciprocate her twin’s desperate embrace she realizes that her thoughts yesterday were wrong. Each and every time Sam and Alexandra said they love her were nothing but _honest_ and _true_.

“I’m so sorry, Reign,” Sam sobs into her neck, the words choked out between her tears, “Please, come home. Please, forgive me and come back home.”

Reign buries her nose in her neck, lets herself be engulfed by the sweet scent she missed so much, sinks into this warmth she never wants to miss again. Slowly she sits them up, pulls Sam more onto the bed with her, holds onto her as tight as possible. Her heart must be breaking from all this relief, this solace, this comfort after all the grueling agony. Over Sam’s shoulder she spots Alexandra two feet away from them, with furrowed brows and shining eyes but the smile on her face is nothing but _happiness_ and _joy_.

“Never do that again, dummy,” she says in a low voice, tilting her head to the side.

Reign pulls one arm from Sam’s trembling back, reaches her hand out towards her girlfriend, needing her touch, too, begging her to come closer. Alexandra instantly closes the distance, laces her fingers with Reign’s, curling her free arm around her shoulder.

“Don’t you ever disappear on us like that again,” she says, her voice thick with emotions.

Reign doesn’t even know what to say and do instead hangs onto them like her very life depends on it because for the love of Yuda Kal she was so sure that they _hate_ her, that they _never_ want to see her again.

“I’m so sorry, Reign. Please, come home. Please, come back to us we miss you so much,” Sam cries harder into her neck.

Then she shifts a bit to the side, curling further into Reign’s side and Alexandra lets go of her hand to stroke her cheek softly. Reign swallows, leans into the touch, basking in it but suddenly Alexandra turns her head and kisses her, and it is _all_ she ever needed.

Kara sniffles behind them startling them, making Alexandra break the kiss. “Sorry, sorry,” Kara says, wiping at her eyes, “You’re all just too sweet.”

Alexandra clears her throat Reign blushes and Sam doesn’t care at all. Then the redhead retreats from their embrace with the words: “I’ll be right back. Promise,” and pulls her phone out.

Sam lifts her head from Reign’s shoulder, lets her eyes rake over the Worldkiller, right before her hands follow the same path: “Are you ok? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Reign briefly glances down at herself. Her state of appearance is not _that_ presentable. Alexandra’s hoodie has tears here and there, there is a wide rip in the jeans over her right knee which is bleeding because she rolled out of the line of fire, her left elbow is bruised and bleeding, too and her whole left side aches. She rests her forehead against her twin’s: “Nothing the sunlamps cannot fix.”

The next moment, Alexandra is back, holding her phone out towards the confused Worldkiller.

“Someone wants to talk to you.”

The child is on the other end, yelling at Reign for running away, and missing her soccer game and making their family sick with worry.

“I’m sorry, Ruby,” she mumbles into the phone.

“ _You better make it up_ ,” the girl scolds her then adds in a voice full of love, “ _I’m so happy you’re back._ ”

“Me, too,” Reign says, “Me, too.”

She hands the phone back. Suddenly, she must yawn. Her body feels heavy, she has trouble keeping her eyes open and with a bit of surprise she realizes that this is exhaustion.

“You should try to sleep a bit. Let the sunlamps do their work,” Alexandra says with soft eyes.

Reign nods: “Do humans always feel like this?”

“Awful right?” Kara pipes up.

Reign lies back down, and Sam doesn’t leave her side, lying down next to her.

Alexandra kisses them both on the forehead: “I’ll come check on you in a bit,” she turns to her sister: “Kara, you have a minute?”

They leave the med-bay after dimming the light. The twins lie face to face in bed, holding hands, staring deep into each other’s eyes, feeling how their connection slowly resurfaces between them. Reign is sure she cannot bear being separated from Sam ever again. Under the soft, orange glow of the sunlamp it doesn’t take long until they fall asleep, their hearts beating in perfect sync. Words are overrated right now, all they crave is touch and being close and knowing the other is right by their side.

Down the hall and around some corners Alexandra is quietly discussing something with Kara. The redhead hopes that after tonight they will be granted a better time, a happier time.

The thing with hope though is that it can be crushed.

And the universe is out to _pulverize_ Alexandra’s hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always I hope that you enjoyed the chapter :)  
> Let me know what you think in the comment section and drop Kudos, a comment or a little smiley that would literally make my day.  
> Unfortunately, the last part will not be posted until the end of September because I'm off to vacation tommorrow.  
> I hope you're excited.  
> Tbc with the ANGST and SMUT.


	3. The Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What have Alex and Kara been talking about at the end of the last chapter?  
> What will be so bad that it pulverizes Alex' hope?  
> How will Reign react when she receives an unexpected gift and why does she end up in the dark vally again?  
> And why does Sam feel like she is stuck in the worst nightmare of her life?
> 
> Read on and find out in the last chapter!

* * *

 

 

You know what they say about dreams.

 _Make your dreams come true_. _Dream bigger_. _Find the partner of your dreams_. And so on. All pretty positive.

What they say about wishes is not that positive.

 _Be careful what you wish for_.

Once, it had been way more than a simple proverb   a Yiddish curse. And Alex is so oblivious and completely defenseless that it will catch her off-guard on the day it comes crashing down. Her wish of Sam and Reign having their own bodies came true. Nothing is for free, though. Every wish comes with a price.

 

.

 

“You think this might actually work?” Kara asks, looking unconvinced at her sister’s outstretched palm.

“I don’t know,” Alex huffs, ”But I really want to find out.”

“Tonight?”

She nods.

“That could take hours,” Kara says with wide eyes.

Alex puts the thing in her palm in a rack on the table and takes a deep breath: “You know what is nice about a relationship?” She puts both hands forward now.

“Uhm…”

“Balance,” Alex says seriously, raising first one hand, “Giving,” and the other, “And taking.”

“Where exactly is this supposed to go?” Kara asks, brows furrowed, and head tilted to the side.

Alex looks at her deadly serious: “With Reign, it is giving like 95 percent of the time.” Kara gets a vague idea which point her sister is trying to make and her ears turn pink. “I want those five percent, Kara, and Rao, I want them tonight.”

“Please, stop talking.”

“Will you help me?”

Kara casts a brief glance towards the clock over the entry to the lab, presses her lips together and crunches her face up. She could be home by now eating Lena for dinner. She squeezes her eyes shut. With Lena. Dinner _with_ Lena. Her eyes still shut, and her head craned back, she wonders what it would be like never being able to worship her girlfriend they way she loves to so much. What it would be like to fear hurting Lena every time they have sex. She has years more of practice, a decade even. Controlling her powers around humans has become second nature, respecting and protecting the delicacy of their bodies. The only emotion that makes her snap in certain moments is anger, pure and white, and once fury has a hold on Kara all her inhibitions melt away like ice under her heat-gaze. Reign though. Oh, the Worldkiller is a whole other story. Breaking Alex must be one of her worst fears. She lets out a long sigh.

“Fine.”

Alex’ face lights up like a Christmas tree. Then they both look at the softly glowing rake.

 

.

 

Sam’s eyelids flutter and for a moment she doesn’t know where she is.

In a bed that much becomes clear pretty quickly, her body basking in gentle light and an even gentler warmth. She is holding onto someone. Alex? No. This scent is too much like her own and with a small shudder the past three days come back to her. Reign is sleeping peacefully in her arms, all sweet and defenseless in a well-deserved slumber. Her head is tugged under Sam’s chin, her fingers curled in the fabric of Sam’s sweater, clinging even in her sleep as if she is scared to be alone again when she wakes up. With a pang, guilt seeps into her chest, _oozy_ and _foul_. She swears on anything that is worth swearing on that she will never abandon Reign ever again. Like this the Worldkiller looks like the most innocent creature on earth and at the sheer irony she rolls her eyes. She hangs onto the unlikely idea of never having to get up from this position, of staying forever so close to her twin that she can almost imagine that the split never happened. That is until she notices Alex standing in the doorway, quietly watching them.

“How are you feeling?” she asks after noticing that Sam is awake.

She pulls Reign tighter to her chest, overcome with so much gratefulness at their reunion that it leaves her at a loss for words.

“Like I’m whole again,” she mumbles eventually.

Alex smiles at her over Reign’s shoulder as she comes nearer to the bed. Reign hasn’t even stirred until now but because Alex sits down, the mattress dips and the Worldkiller jolts awake, _sudden_ and _sharp_. “Relax, Reign,” Sam says soothingly, and Alex says from her other side:

“It’s just me, babe.”

After the initial tension in her face and shoulders faded, Reign sinks back onto the cushion, eyes darting swiftly and drowsily between the two. She fits perfectly between them because Sam has her arms wrapped around her and Alex sits as close as possible on the edge of the bed, her right hand vanishing somewhere between the twins to balance her weight. Reign alternates looking from one to the other, all hesitant and worried. Sam sees and senses that although the three of them are back together, there is more to be expected. That the storm might have passed but the sky hasn’t cleared yet.

“Are you still angry?”

They never made it to that question before they fell asleep and Alex went into the lab. Somehow, Sam cannot believe that Reign actually has to ask when it should be the other way around, the Worldkiller should be angry at them or better only at Sam. Alex is already shaking her head and Sam says: “No, we’re not.”

“We were really worried, though,” the Agent says, making Reign turn on her back, so that she can lock their gazes.

Somewhere in her dark irises glimmers the fear of rejection: “Really?”

With another pang of guilt, Sam accepts that it is her fault that Reign’s voice trembles with insecurity. That she questions things now that should be a given. Reign’s armor has always been impeccable, thick and cold as steel, made of stoicism, pride and indifference. Now it has cracks. Because of her.

“Scared right out of our minds,” Alex answers, sounding a little less serious than one might have imagined.

Attempting to smooth the tension over with some humor, like so often in uncomfortable situations. Nonetheless, it’s the truth. Without another word, she leans down, holding in for a second to see if the Worldkiller might turn her head. Instead of doing that, Reign raises her chin because she must have missed Alex as much as the redhead missed her. Sam watches them kiss in silent adoration. No one else might understand this and sometimes it leaves herself puzzled, too, how much it means to her seeing this. And seeing Reign and Alex pour their love for each other into kiss after kiss is a sight for her alone, something she would selfishly never share with anyone else. Reign shifts slightly out of their embrace, tugging the redhead further down and they don’t stop until they are panting, all flushed faces and blown pupils and Sam is gnawing on her bottom lip. Reign’s lips are kiss swollen and Alex is catching her breath and Sam asks in a small voice: “Will you come home with us?”

There is a flicker of something in her twin’s eyes, telling her that she will not be forgiven as easily as Alex, that _she_ yet has to prove to Reign that being sorry is _honesty_ and what she said in the garden was _fear_. Reign turns back to Alex to intently study her face, to cup her cheek and run a thumb over the pale skin. If her sister only returns because of their girlfriend, she is fine with that. For the love of God, she will wait for Reign’s forgiveness as long as it takes. To her surprise, she suddenly feels her sister’s pinky curling around her own.

“Yes,” Reign says, her eyes not having left her girlfriend’s gentle hazel ones, “I missed home.”

She squeezes Sam’s finger lightly. Alex sits back up: “You two should head home first.”

Bewildered Sam sits up, too, sharing a confused glance with her twin: “What? Why?”

“Because you have to talk without me being there to distract you.”

Reign huffs: “Bold of you to assume you distract us.”

The Agent lets out a deep laugh: “Oh, babe.”

Sulking, Reign looks at Sam, who shrugs: “You know she is right.”

“Hmpf.”

Grinning at the Worldkiller’s disgruntled expression, Sam looks at Alex. After the past days, she nearly forgot how _good_ a smile feels. “And?” She knows there is more to come, a second reason for Alex to remain at the DEO.

Her girlfriend’s eyes dart towards her lab: “I have to finish something up.”

She doesn’t add anything to that and soon the three of them are standing in front of the elevator. It seems Sam and Reign slept for a handful of hours because the Worldkiller’s injuries from her run-in with the ever so troublesome Expatriates have already healed. Under the tears in the hoodie and the rip in the jeans her skin glows smooth and dark and thank God because Reign didn’t stop complaining about how _mundane_ she felt without her powers. How it was downright _insulting_ that she as a mighty Kryptonian had to suffer from enduring _humanity_. Sam is just glad that at least one of her girls cannot get herself killed with their reckless behavior anymore. It is stressful enough to constantly fight the worrisome voice in her head as soon as Alex leaves for work. She could not handle a second voice.

The Agent says in a stern voice and a hard tone that she will run some tests with the confiscated weapons, even swears to personally hunt down whoever leaked DEO tech on the black market. Sam shudders at the mere thought of criminals running around with guns strong enough to hurt a Worldkiller. She wonders if that is what her girlfriend wants to work on in the middle of the night. Before she can ask, Alex already pushed the button calling the elevator. She will see the results sooner or later anyways and she really, really wants to go home.

“Don’t be too late,” Sam says seriously, hoping intently that after the last couple of days they can share an undisturbed, peaceful night together. Then she briefly kisses the redhead.

“I won’t.” Alex leans in again, “Promise.”

Sam feels Reign tugging at Alex’ elbow: “Come home soon.”

The kiss is almost timid, making Sam’s heart flutter. The elevator dings, and Alex shoos them off with red tinged cheeks.

The first few minutes in the burrowed DEO car are painfully quiet. Sam does her best to concentrate on the street but it’s late on a Tuesday, the traffic is light, and her eyes stray more often than not to the silent Worldkiller. Reign stares out of the window for most of the time. Eventually, Sam plucks up her courage because, Jesus Christ, she will cause an accident from being so tense.

“Are you angry?”

The stress is heavy on the pronoun, being a mirrored question to what Reign asked not more than minutes ago. She must stop at a red light, finally feeling the Worldkiller’s intense gaze on her.

“No. I know anger.” Sam hears the hint of what she truly feels around the edges of those words. “This is not it,” Reign finishes.

She knows what _it_ is, thinking however, that it is time for her twin to decipher feelings by herself. If she and Alex always tell her, Reign will never learn to know more than _anger_ and _desire_.

“What you said to me…” she starts. Sam grips the steering wheel tighter, dreading that her twin actually understood just how awful she has been. “It hurt.”

“I’m sorry,” she gulps.

Reign is kneading her hands: “I would never let anything happen to the child or Alexandra.” She sounds not only sad anymore because _reproach_ and _disappointment_ make her statement even heavier.

“I know,” Sam rushes out, all guilt and shame. How has she been able to doubt that for just one second?

“And yet you said what you said.”

She is so troubled by her guilt that she almost misses the highway exit: “I shouldn’t have.”

Reign stays quiet for a couple of moments before asking: “Did you mean it?”

Vehemently, she shakes her head: “I was scared. For Ruby. For you.” She hears cloth rustling and Reign crosses her arms in front of her chest, “I didn’t mean any of it.” Suddenly, the intensity of her twin’s gaze must have increased ten-fold. The right side of her face feels like an ant must feel under a magnifying glass in the middle of summer.

“How am I supposed to know what you mean and what you do not mean?” Yeah. How is one supposed to know? “Zor-El said I have to trust you.”

“Trust us?” Reign nods, looking deeply troubled as if she is as confused by Kara’s words as Sam.

“She said I have to trust you that you honestly mean the good things and not the bad things.”

Sam stares hypnotized at the red tail-lights of the car in front of them. Trust. What a delicate, fragile thing. Trust is something that must be earned, that is a gift, a treasure. And something that can be broken. Her heart begins to hammer it her chest as she thinks that maybe once Reign’s trust in someone is broken, it is broken forever. She draws in a shaky breath. She is so scared of asking the next question that she almost doesn’t.

“Do you trust me?”

Reign contemplates her for a second longer before turning her head to look out the windshield. She doesn’t answer until they are in their street, until the car comes to a halt in the driveway and Sam turns the ignition off. The car is dark and the silence in it even darker. Out of habit and an amount of anxiety and nervousness she hasn’t felt in quite a while, Sam rubs her right thumb over the back of her left wrist. It’s a control mechanism, one that keeps her from shaking, keeps the feelings simmering inside from spilling out in hot tears. She isn’t sure that she will get an answer at all, thinks about saying something again, anything to keep the Worldkiller by her side. “Rei-“

“I do.”

“What?”

In the thick darkness, Reign’s eyes gleam like Rubies: “I trust you.” Sam is too afraid to say something, too afraid that her twin didn’t actually mean it or changes her mind. “You’re the first human I trusted.”

She gasps in surprise: “I…what?” She is doing great in making sense tonight. Sam always thought that Alex was Reign’s _first_ of anything. But not her, definitely not her.

“I trusted you that you would keep us alive until the Awakening. I trusted you with your feelings for Alexandra. I trust you with keeping control when I lose it.” Her voice is flat and unemotional, and she still knows how much it must take for Reign to admit this, both to herself and to Sam. After what she said, she thinks with burning cheeks that she is not worthy of that trust. Suddenly, she hears how Reign unbuckles her seatbelt. “What you said in the garden hurt.” She feels long, slim fingers reaching for her hand. “But being separated from you hurt more.” Reign places the palm of Sam’s hand against her chest and the human gasps again. “It hurt here.”

Sam’s shoulders start to shake, her bottom lip trembles and the next moment she throws her arms around her sister, still strapped into her own seat. “I’m so sorry, Reign. I’m so sorry.” Reign doesn’t reciprocate the embrace this time, only presses her cheek against the side of her head.

When Sam calmed down enough for her tears to have subsided, they finally get out. The very moment the front door falls shut, Reign begins to strip. She is out of her pants before she reaches the landing and Sam scrambles after her, picking the discarded clothes from the stairs: “Hey! What are you doing?”

Down to her underwear, Reign turns back in the door to the bathroom: “I take a shower.” She looks down at herself dismissively: “I smell.”

Sam is quick to throw the admittedly dirty clothes in a hamper in the bedroom and then she sits on the closed toilet-seat waiting for her twin to finish the shower. The thought of this being weird doesn’t even cross her mind because, good God, the further away Reign is the more insistent and painful the tugging in her chest becomes to chase after her. Sighing heavily, she runs a hand over her face. This split is harder to process than she thought.  

“Where is the child?”

Sam has been so far in her own head that she didn’t hear the water being turned off. Reign stands dripping wet on the bathmat. Sam hands her a towel and turns her head. As long as Alex is with them, Sam has no problem looking at her twin, even staring at her. Sometimes, though, when they are alone, it is too overwhelming how downright _ridiculously_ similar they are. They mirror each other so perfectly, it sends chills down her spine, chills of the unpleasant kind. She cannot stare too long at her double or she might just lose herself in Reign.

“She is at a sleepover. She comes home tomorrow morning.” Briefly, she wonders if her twin asked because she genuinely wants to see Ruby. The thought makes her smile. While Reign gets dressed in a black top and black sweatpants, Sam asks: “Are you hungry?”

The Worldkiller probably is starving because the last thing she ate must have been the cereals three days ago.

“No.”

Sam knows its’s a lie even before Reign’s stomach betrays her by growling loudly. She presses her lips together to keep from laughing whereas the Worldkiller crosses her arms in font of her chest, a light blushing creeping up her neck.

“Maybe a bit.”

“Just a little bit,” she teases.

“I want grilled chilly-cheese sandwiches,” Reign grumbles, tugging bashfully on the inhibitor bracelets.

Sam laces their hands and leads her downstairs: “Ruby must stop giving you all that unhealthy food.”

Reign inhales the first two sandwiches in the mere seconds it takes Sam to take four more toast slices out of their plastic bag. She asks for more until they run out of toast altogether. While Sam does the dishes, she must yawn, suddenly caught up by the exhaustion she was able to suppress until now. Sleep had been light and short and nightmarish during Reign’s absence and she only realizes now how tired she is. Her eyelids droop, her arms become heavy and she is so drowsy that she almost lets the pan drop into the used dishwater. She finishes as fast as she can. “I’m going to bed now,” she mumbles in the direction of the couch.

The next second, a pair of strong arms hoist her up, prompting her to yelp. “What are you doing?” she exclaims nervously. Reign’s arms tighten around her waist. “Put me down.” She totally ignores her and walks out of the kitchen.

“You looked like you would fall asleep any moment.”

She sits her down so carefully on the bed that Sam wonders if maybe, just _maybe_ she is already forgiven. Reign crawls next to her on the covers, loosely wrapping her arms around Sam. At their closeness, they let out content, low sighs. “I missed you so much,” Sam mumbles, running circles with a thumb on the Worldkiller’s sharp hipbone.

She hums in content, splaying her long fingers across Sam’s spine: “The first night, I felt like I had to die without you.”

Her breath hitches because she felt the same. Even in Alex’ arms. In hushed, calm voices they share their feelings about being separated and the split until it is past midnight and they fall asleep. In the quiet of the night, the cracks of their relationship slowly begin to close being filled up by glowing, golden threads, wrapping around them to tie them together forever.

Forever may only last two weeks.

 

.

 

It is close to one in the morning when Alex gets off her motorcycle in the driveway.

Her little experiment on Kara took longer than expected. She fingers the small metal box in the right pocket of her leather jacket. Even now she cannot be sure that it will really work. The more the hours crept by, the more restless Kara grew and at some point, she put her foot down insisting on going home. That was around midnight. Alex had to clean up the lab before she could leave, too, leaving her clueless to how late it must be now. Or early.

As quiet as a mouse, she opens the front door, straining her ears listening for any noises telling her whether her girlfriends are still fighting. She hears nothing. Quickly, she shrugs out of the jacket, kicks off the boots and tip-toes upstairs, the metal box clutched tightly in her hand. She suspects that Reign and Sam are asleep because everything is dark in the hall and she cannot hear any voices. She sneaks into the bedroom to grab her sleep clothes and change in the bathroom. Even in the shadows, she can make out two bodies, tightly huddled together and she doesn’t want to wake them up. She doesn’t get very far.

“You’re home.”

Reign’s voice is deep and hoarse, strangely detached from her body and sending tingles down Alex’ back.

She opens her mouth to whisper: “Shh. Don’t wake u-“

“Alex?” Sam mumbles the next moment, drunk on sleep and fumbling for the lamp on the nightstand.

The notion creeps up on the redhead that both her girlfriends have a sixth sense for when she is close, finally explaining why sneaking up on them for scary purposes on Halloween totally _didn’t_ work, regardless of who was in control: “Damn. I tried to be really quiet.”

“I have super-hearing,” Reign reminds her dryly.

“Oh,” Alex cringes, “Right.”

Sam leans slightly over her twin, squinting at the alarm and Alex notices the position they slept in. Reign was the little spoon. Her heart swells like a balloon.

“Why are you so late?” Sam asks, brows crinkled.

Her hold tightens on the metal box: “I finished an experiment.”

“Are you going to tell us?” Sam’s brows crinkle further.

Alex is nodding, ready to show them what she has been working on all night, but Reign speaks up first. “First, you come here.”

She doesn’t have to be told twice. She places the box next to the lamp and climbs on the bed. She gave it her best, her _very_ best to be strong for Sam during Reign’s absence, to be there, to sooth the pain. It gave Alex the chance to push her own fear and pain away, to no think about what could have happened to the Worldkiller, to not be reminded too much about March last year when Sam was _gone_. This most horrible time in all of her life. March, God damn it, turns into her least favorite month. And only because she wanted to give the twins the time and space they needed to reconcile, she didn’t  throw herself at Reign the way Sam did. Not that she didn’t want to. She did. And this time nothing is holding her back.

Similar to hours ago in the med bay, Reign is lying on her back, waiting for Alex while Sam remains on her side curled as tight around the Worldkiller as possible with still allowing her to move. It is one of Alex’ favorite sights, them side by side, making it impossible to say which is more beautiful, more radiant. _Sexier_. _Hotter_. Inwardly, Alex snorts. As if she ever could decide that. She is a hopeless case for both of them.

She lowers herself on top of Reign, mustering up as much restraint as possible but, oh sweet Jesus, the hunger is already gnawing at her insides.

“I missed you so damn much.”

And then Reign’s legs fall open for her and her arms curl around her shoulders and Alex sinks into her with a long sigh. Having her nose buried in Reign’s hair, Alex realizes that she took a shower. And used Alex’ shampoo. Inexplicably, her hunger grows just from thinking about it. Suddenly, Sam’s fingers are combing through her hair and Reign’s hands wander down to her hips. The groan topples out of her mouth and onto the cushion without her consent. Jesus, being so close to them makes it impossible for her having any control over her desire. Ever since she got that first taste of Sam and Reign being blend beautifully into one, she has been pining after it, having become an instant addict to the contradictory union they form, to being strung between their _tenderness_ and their _toughness_. She pushes a bit back from the mattress until she rests on her hands.

“I missed you, too,” Reign says, sounding almost shy, sounding almost as if admitting this is admitting a _weakness_ others would find silly. Her cheeks are a bit red and she looks a bit nervous and Alex never wanted her more.

“Fuck, Reign,” she says and surges forward.

Someone moans when their lips meet in a fiery kiss, and she cannot tell who of them was it: herself, Reign or Sam. She couldn’t care less about it because, sweet Rao, Reign presses her knees into her waist and her hands slip under Alex’ shirt and Sam’s fingers are in her neck, pushing her even closer to the Worldkiller. Tonight, she feels _bold_ and _brazen_ and like she will not end up on her back for once, not at her girlfriends’ mercy. Tonight, she wants to give and give and give. And she starts by parting Reign’s lips with her tongue. To her surprise, there is no struggle, no jerking back, no – well _no_. The Worldkiller’s hands are on her jaw, the tips of her fingers behind Alex’ ears and she’s only guiding her closer and deeper and Alex’ heart is _soaring_.

She has always loved sex with Sam and Reign. Right from the first time. With Sam it is _beauty_ and _trust_ and _wilderness_. Sam knows exactly how to tease her until she is on the brink of forgetting her own name, all begging and pleading. And she knows exactly how to pry the well-guarded control from Sam, how to make her unwind, how to unravel her until she lies bare and breathless under Alex.

With Reign it is _fire_ and _fight_ and _control_. Reign pushes her to her limits like no one ever before, tests how much she can take and then gives her a little more each time, worshipping Alex as if she was a saint. She would give herself to the Worldkiller over and over again, mesmerized both by the unhidden, unparalleled power in her and by how hard she fights to keep that power from erupting like a force of nature, simply sweeping her away in its wake. But as much as she understands how scared Reign is of hurting her, how much _more_ control means to her than to Sam, Alex has days when she wants to be the reason for Reign to scream into a pillow and come undone in the most beautiful way. She wants to be the one, single human on earth being allowed to touch her like _that_ , to taste her like _that_ , to make her _let go_. And tonight, Rao may bless her, she will take Reign, and no one is going to stop her.

She waited for too long, imagined it for too long and just how much she wants it, is ridiculous. She lifts one hand from the covers, pushes Reign’s top up until her stomach is naked and ready for her eager fingers to explore, _hard_ and _jumping._ They both moan at the contact and she realizes vaguely how Sam gets a grip on her hair, holding on _tight_. After all those months of waiting to be right here, to see Reign staring up at her, face flushed, pupils dilated, and lips swollen, Alex is growing impatient. Her impulse control is only slightly better than the Kryptonian’s and who can blame her when she has a _goddess_ waiting at the edge of her fingertips.

She begins to pepper kisses along Reign’s neck, across her shoulder, tasting the same spots that drive Sam wild, tasting new ones she will commit to memory the moment she finds them. Reign groans and withers and pushes her hips upwards, _probably_ involuntarily, _probably_ not thinking about it but for Alex it is like all the blood rushes _south_ in the moment Reign’s crotch presses against the zipper of her jeans.

She rolls her own hips down, more forcefully than Reign, nailing her into the mattress and just from this brief illusion of dominance and power over the Worldkiller, Alex’ head is spinning. Her hand gets a mind of its own, rubs over Reign’s ribs and she feels the shaky breath against her palm when her fingers brush against the underside of her full breasts. Desire makes her arms almost buckle because, oh my, Reign didn’t bother to wear a bra.

 “Shit,” she groans again.

Before she has the chance, though, to fully cup the soft flesh, Reign becomes _stiff_ and _hard_ and _unresponsive_. They reached the point where the Worldkiller remembers the strength captured in her body and the fear of unleashing it. It’s the point Alex always, always hates. Reign pushes against her shoulders, pushing herself as far away from Alex as she can: “No…no…” she rasps, “You must stop. Get off.”

“Don’t make me. Please, don’t make me.”

She was so close, Rao damn it. She thinks about the small metal box, sitting on the bedside table, thinks about what is inside. It can take all of Reign’s fears away. But Alex is neither sure that she really wants her having to use it nor is she sure that she would take it in the first place.

”Alex…” she says low and husky and close to pleading.

All she hears is the name she is being called. Except for Sam, Reign _never_ calls people by any other name than the one they were given, their _true_ name. She always calls her Alexandra, Kara is not a Danvers but a Zor-El and Maggie is Margaret no matter how withering the Latina’s gaze is. How close to snapping is Reign right now that Alex’ name falls from her lips like an invocation, each of the four letters a plea of its own? Finally, she leans so far back that she can look her in the eyes. She swallows heavily. Reign has them squeezed shut, looking as if it is the most _exhausting_ thing she ever had to do and in the corners of her eyes gleams and crackles the heat-gaze like tiny, red thunderbolts.

“Alex, I can’t…you must get off.”

She sounds scared. Terrified of herself and that she could let the control slip just for the fraction of a second and burn a hole in the ceiling. Alex wants to say something to calm her down, to reassure her that she knows Reign would never slip up. But Sam is faster than her. She shuffles a bit upwards until her nose is right in front of her twin’s, and she gently takes her tense face in her hands and says in a calm voice: “I’m here. Don’t be scared.”

Reign lifts her cramped hands from Alex’ hips, wraps them desperately around Sam’s wrists: “I can’t control it.”

“Yes, you can.”

“Sam…”

“I trust you, Reign. You can control it.”

Alex watches in complete awe. What a surprise that Sam is the dominant twin, the dominant soul, with the capacity to sooth and protect Reign one second and then completely shatter her the next. Then again, maybe it is no surprise at all. Sam knows _control_ like barely any other person Alex ever met.

“Open your eyes.”

Reign shakes her head, sending red sparks flying on Sam’s skin and onto the pillow.

“Open them, Reign.”

Alex shivers because she sounds calm and trusting and reassuring and yet it cannot conceal that she is _ordering_ the Worldkiller. Trembling, Reign yields, obeying her twin and Alex is dumbstruck by how much _power_ Sam has even now that they are split. Tentatively and carefully and slowly, Reign opens her eyes. Alex is transfixed by the sight and stares and stares and cannot stop.

Kara’s heat gaze is like a white dwarf, blinding white and blue and as bright and powerful as a warm hypergiant. She carries the force of star explosions in her eyes and Alex never failed to feel humble and small in front of her sister when she is like that. When staring into Kara’s heat-gaze is like staring into the brightest _sky_ , Reign’s heat-gaze is like the _sun_ itself. The sparks jumping and flitting around her temples even remind her of solar flares.

“See?” Sam says, softly, “You’re good.”

Reign has been breathing so fast and hard that Alex feared she might start to hyperventilate. Now, her breath comes in slower and deeper, guided into a calmer rhythm by Sam’s voice. Sam takes one of her twin’s hands between her own and kisses the knuckles lightly: “You’re stronger than you know.”

Still looking unconvinced, Reign turns to Alex and the redhead’s next breath gets caught in her throat.

“God, you are beautiful.”

Now that she has a better look, can really take in what is in front of her, she realizes that Reign’s eyes _are_ the sun, indeed. They are gleaming hot and red, traversed by brighter spots, even _hotter_ spots in shining gold and blinding white. As if someone took a part of the burning star in the creation of Reign and buried it deep, deep in her body. Quietly, Alex thanks Rao for putting stars in his children’s eyes. They are mesmerizing. They must be the most fascinating thing she ever saw. Before she knows it, the light fades away, the sparks frizzle out and she looks into the familiar mix of reddish-brown she grew to love so much in the past year.

“You did it. You didn’t hurt us,” Alex says, a loving smile on her face, “You never hurt us.”

Suddenly, Reign’s expression grows dark: “That is not true.”

She lifts a hand to the place where she once sank her teeth into, deep and merciless until she tasted blood. The scarred proof that she can lose control and that she _did_ lose control. Even if it was only _one_ time. Alex places her own hand on the elliptical scar on her right collarbone: “You will be always scared that it happens again.”

It’s not really a question because she already knows the answer. Reign nods: “Of course.”

Alex’ eyes flitter towards the bedside table again: “I worked on something that might help you with that.” She reaches for the box.

“How that?” Sam asks, protectively putting her arms around Reign again.

Alex sits up, leans back on her knees at either side of the Worldkiller’s thighs and it doesn’t take long until the twins are sitting, too. She plays nervously with the box, is for some reason not able to look them in the eye: “How was it to lose your powers today?” Sam and Reign glance at each other like they did not expect that question. Reign shrugs, in an attempt to conceal what she really feels however Alex is an expert at reading her, seeing right through the indifferent façade.

“It was strange.”

The redhead studies her face, searching for hints in the twist of Reign’s mouth, in the crease of her brow, searching for hints that there is more to losing one’s powers than just strangeness: pain, maybe fear. She must know what her girlfriend feels before she can open the box.

“It made me realize how fragile a human life is,” Reign laces their hands, her eyes heavy and somber, “How precious.” Her voice cracks. Alex swallows touched deeply by the fact that the precious human life Reign thought about was _hers_. It is not what she needs to hear, though.

“Were you scared? Did it hurt?”

Reign shakes her head.

“Why are you asking all that?” Sam is growing antsy and fidgety.

Alex takes a deep breath: “I found a way to repeat the process,” she opens the box between the three of them, “To dampen your powers.” Sam sends her a sour glance whereas Reign stares incredulously at the softly glowing content in the box.

“That looks like the red-sun projectiles they fired at me.”

Alex cringes, thinking that it definitely does _not_ look like that. She worked hard to make sure of that after all. Narrowing her eyes and scrutinizing the box, Sam says:

“Not really, Reign.”

“You’re not completely wrong,” Alex sighs, already trying to come to terms with the fact that she _wasted_ half the night in the lab, “It’s made of remains of projectiles Kara found at the shooting. It emits the same radiation and if it doesn’t take your powers away completely, it should at least tone them down significantly.”

“Did you test it on Kara?” Sam asks.

Alex nods. “She told me to punch her because she didn’t believe it would work.” She cannot help the small grin crossing her face: “She went home with a split lip.”

“Why would you want to take my powers away?” Reign cuts in, looking wary and cautious and she doesn’t miss how the Worldkiller leans closer to Sam. And away from her. She doesn’t really want to tell them how selfish her reason is for having created the content of the box, how utterly and downright _egoistic_.

“Uhm…” She clears her throat. Oh boy. “It’s because you’re so scared of your powers that I never get to be on top.” She burns holes in the mattress, her cheeks aflame and the silence, after the words flew out of her mouth, is deafening.

“Excuse me?” Reign asks bewildered.

Alex wants to jump up and run far, far away because, Jesus fucking Christ, this is beyond _embarrassing_ and _hard_. Voicing her feelings and desires has never been easy and to her immense luck, Sam mostly knows what she wants and needs before she has to force the words out some way or another. Reign, though, has trouble understanding her even when she is as explicit as possible.

“It’s just…you always…give…on top,” Great and now she rambles. Well done, Danvers. “And I never get to give back. Because you’re scared…and I want…I want.”

She wants to be the _only_ one touching Reign where she has never been touched before. _Selfish_. _Egoistic_. She should have never done this damn experiment.

“You two are really hopeless,” Sam looks between them shaking her head but with a small smile playing around her lips, “Alex wants to make you feel the way you make her feel.” Reign blushes deeply at those words, stealing shy glances at Alex from under long eyelashes. She knows her own face looks pretty much the same. “And you never allow her to make you feel good because you’re too afraid that you will hurt her.”

“That is correct,” Reign mumbles in a small voice.

Alex lets out a long breath, shakes her embarrassment and disappointment off and says in wobbly words: “It was a stupid idea,” she snaps the lid of the box shut, “I’m sorry.”

To her surprise, Reign shouts: “No!” and snatches the box from her hands. Hope flutters in her chest, cautiously like a newly hatched bird. “It’s not permanent, right?”

“No, of course not,” she is quick to answer.

Slowly, Reign opens the box again and takes the content between her long fingers. It’s a silver necklace. In the middle of the delicate chain hang three pendants, shaped like long stretched arrow heads. The pendants’ frames are made of the same, cool silver as the necklace, but each contains a beautiful inlay made of the remains of the projectiles Kara found, making the whole necklace glimmer and glow in a soft red.

“You made this?” Reign asks, sounding awestruck. Alex shrugs, wringing her hands in her lap.

“It’s beautiful, Alex,” Sam whispers, gliding her fingers over the pendants that almost look like Rubies.

“It’s no big deal,” she shrugs again. She loves to be praised, of course, even more so by her girlfriends. That doesn’t mean that it isn’t embarrassing. “I’ll just put it away if it makes you uncomfortable. Just…just forget about it,” she stutters, attempting to not let the frustration make her brake out in tears.

“No,” Reign says, “No. I don’t want to forget about it,” she makes a small sound in the back of her throat and Alex raises her eyes from where they have been glued to her hands. Reign is still blushing or blushing again, and her heart skips a beat because it is such a rare and beautiful sight: “I want to wear it.”

“Oh.”

“Give me that,” Sam says, and she swears the CFO sounds amused. Then Sam moves to sit behind Reign, tells her twin to hold her hair back and places the gift around her neck. “Do you feel anything?” Sam whispers in Reign’s ear once the clasp is closed.

Alex’ heart is pounding away a hundred miles an hour. Kara’s powers were completely gone when she wore the necklace, the radiation intense enough to render her as human as Alex. But, damn, Reign is different than Kara, in so many aspects that no one can say if this small amount of red-sun radiation does anything to her. Quietly, Reign reaches for her, the look in her eyes simultaneously scared and excited. Alex slides closer to her girlfriends, sneaks her arms around the Worldkiller’s waist, presses her nose on the side of Reign’s neck that is not already claimed by Sam. At first, Reign’s hold on her is light and careful, like always, like always not trusting herself enough.

“Reign…” she moans against warm, tanned skin, beginning to roam her hands freely. Under Reign’s shirt and the small of her back and against Sam’s stomach that is pressed against her knuckles. The longer Alex’ hands glide over Reign’s skin the tighter does her hold become, the more she begins to reciprocate the intensity of Alex’ touch, the _want_ , the _hunger_. Right until the point when Alex knows that the necklace works because, oh, Reign clings to her desperately and unrestrained, all _shivers_ and _gasps_ and _relief_ and: “Alex …”

Her tone strikes a chord deep, deep in Alex, sends heat straight to her core and close to panting and dizzy she leans back. Reign’s face is flushed, her pupils are blown and wide and she feels how _everything_ coils deliciously in her.

“I want you,” she rasps, staring deep into Reign’s eyes, biting her lip, fighting for a last sliver of self-control, “Fuck, Reign. I’ve wanted you for so long.”

“Then take her,” Sam’s voice suddenly trickles into her right ear.

It’s the final straw, the match she has been waiting for to light the fire inside, to turn her _desire_ for Reign into an _inferno_. She doesn’t waste another second, grabs Reign’s face and crashes their lips together.

 

.

 

Reign is sure that she has never been kissed quite like this before.

She is used to the human struggling, to putting up a fight they both know she will lose sooner or later. And Reign loves it, oh she _loves_ it how Alexandra always pretends she can keep up with Kryptonian strength. It is fuel to Reign’s passion for her. But for almost a year, it has been clear from the start who would fuck who in the end. Right now, right this moment with Alexandra kissing her _rough_ and _deep_ , giving her barely time to part her lips, is something else entirely. It’s new and exciting and a little bit scary because, shit, all Reign knows is _power_ and _control_. Giving up, surrendering, letting go, those are things she never did, things she never experienced.

For the first time in her life, she finds herself wanting to. She wants to know what it feels like to be at Alexandra’s mercy, to go crashing over the edge, to receive so much passion from the human that she forgets about all inhibitions, about everything. Reckless and in total abandonment. The thought alone of what that must be like makes her moan helplessly against Alexandra’s tongue. The familiar heat sinks into her abdomen and something else between her thighs and for once she does not have to be afraid of it.

One of Alexandra’s hands is curled in her hair, the other first gripping her hip then it’s pressed against her stomach. Right where more and more of this impossible heat collects. Suddenly, she feels a second pair of hands on her body, soft palms next to Alexandra’s calloused one, long fingers tugging on the hem of her top. _Sam_. Gasping, she breaks the kiss, lets her head fall back against her twin’s shoulder and the sound coming out of her mouth is unlike anything she heard before. The humans respond to it immediately, _fierce_ and _eager_.

Alexandra leaves a path of wet kisses on her neck and Sam presses her palms deeper into her trembling abs, pushing the top more upwards. Reign can only bury her own hands in the fabric of Alexandra’s shirt, holding on to her to not lose her mind. Which is difficult because any rational thought must have slipped away when Alexandra sucked on her earlobe and yanked her head to the side by pulling on her hair. Reign squeezes her eyes shut because her body is bombarded by too many sensations at once. She prides herself in having a good grip on herself, in not being thrown off the track easily or at all but against Alexandra and Sam joining forces she has no chance.

“Alex…” Sam rumbles and Reign feels the name of their love vibrating in her twin’s throat that is mere inches away from her lips.

Some quiet understanding must have passed between them because the next moment Alexandra pulls on the waistband of the sweatpants and Sam finally pulls the top over her head. At the feeling of Sam’s nipples pressing suddenly in the naked, flushed skin of her back, Reign lets out a guttural groan, involuntarily jerking her hips upward. They bump into Alexandra’s crotch and the sensation exploding between Reign’s legs makes her gasp and shudder. She knows what an orgasm feels like. She cannot say if she ever had one herself but Sam, oh _Sam_ had plenty for them and before the split, Reign was able to catch a glimpse of just how _amazing_ and _wonderful_ they are. And making love to Alexandra, fucking her so _good_ that her human screamed Reign’s name until she was hoarse, that was a sweet, sweet pleasure in itself and from the feeling of Alexandra falling apart in her arms, around her fingers and against her tongue, Reign has been so close to coming several times it had been madness. The last moment, she has always pulled back, though, swallowed her desire, just _inches_ away from exploding and just _inches_ away from reducing the fragile human body in her hands to ash. Tonight, it will be her being reduced to… _more Alex …faster…faster…just there_. And maybe possibly to tears.

Carefully, she opens her eyes, turns her head, so she can see the woman of her every dream. Alexandra stares at her or rather her chest, eyes darker than the night, lips slightly parted. For a brief second, she feels like covering up because, oh Yuda Kal have mercy on her, she can barely stand being exposed to so much raw desire. But then Alex says: “You are so beautiful,” and chases the hesitancy away as if it was nothing.

Sam glides her hands over Reign’s arms, down her shoulders, to her elbows, stopping at her wrists and gently lifts them: “You have nothing to hide,” she whispers sweetly in her sensitive ear and Reign trembles like driftwood in a hurricane between them.

“Can I touch you?” Alex says, tip-toeing between groaning and moaning and how can Reign deny her anything when she sounds like _that_?

She takes in a shuddering breath and nods. Her nipples grow hard instantly when Alexandra’s hands palm her breasts. Every inch of her skin feels as if it is on fire and it feels _right_ and _dizzying_ , and she wants more, more, more.

“Alex…” she shouts into the heavy, thick air.

Alexandra kisses her again, licks deep into her, to steal the air right out of her lungs, claiming every _moan_ and _whimper_ for herself. Reign’s hips jerk again, leaving her in wonder for how much longer she can endure this. She has never been so aware of her own body, of how sensitive it is. Alexandra’s touch grows harder, more demanding and the movement below her waist doesn’t seem to stop. Sam curls tighter around her, too. Her hot breath washes over Reign’s heated skin and she feels her twin’s wet warmth against her back. One of Reign’s hands finds one of Sam’s thighs and her nails dig so hard into the soft skin that she would break it if she had her powers. But she doesn’t have them and so she clings to Sam as hard as she can. Her head is filled with nothing, but _lust_ and it only increases because her twin seems to be just as turned on as she is. Only because she _watches_ them.

A new sensation rips through her body when Alexandra drops her hungry mouth from her lips to her nipples. Desperately, she arches her chest out, bends her spine through and brings her human closer by wrapping her legs around her slim waist. Alexandra flicks her tongue over one of her nipples, _quick_ and _hard_ and Reign’s whole body spasms. She has never felt so much pleasure, so much heat and she cannot believe that she missed out on it for _so_ long. Taking her time, Alexandra moves further down, makes love bites bloom along her sternum, across her ribs and around her navel, runs her tongue between them until she has mapped out constellations on Reign’s skin no one will ever see except the three of them.

At the first, featherlight kiss on the inside of her right thigh, Reign shivers and on of her hands flies into the redhead’s hair. Alexandra stops kissing her but doesn’t move her head or anything else really and from the sight of her girlfriend lying patiently and waiting between her legs, Reign feels like going crazy. Part of her must still be scared of that because she pushes her palm against Alexandra’s forehead, keeping her lips hovering above her skin. Out of nowhere, Sam’s lips are against her cheek and fingers lace between her own on top of their girlfriend’s head.

“Don’t be scared, Reign.”

“Sam…” she mumbles unsure. It’s overwhelming how much strength and support her twin pours out for Reign. She places a gentle kiss against her temple, calming down the Worldkiller’s raging heartbeat with such a simple touch.

“I’m here. You can let go.”

“I…” Reign gasps because Sam pushed their combined hands through Alexandra’s hair, moved their palms from the forehead to the back of the skull. Pulling her closer instead of maintaining a last sliver of distance. Alex moans against her heat and something _wild_ and _desperate_ in Reign feels like shoving her face into her folds and just damn it all.

“Look at her,” Sam husks. She struggles more with opening her eyes than she would later admit to anyone. But, for the love of Yuda Kal, it is worth it. Alexandra looks as if she is close to pained, and hungry and unable to hold back for a second longer. Her breathing is labored, her eyes shut, and Reign never thought she could have such an effect on her human. She looks like she can barely restrain herself, waiting for some kind of signal to dive into the wetness Reign feels dripping onto the covers. She gulps.

“Do you want to be fucked?”

Her heart is ready to break right through her ribs, drumming louder than thunder in her chest.

“Yes.”

“Do you want Alex to eat you out like a good girlfriend.”

It’s more than merely _wanting_ it by now, she _needs_ it.

“Yes, yes.”

The next moment, Sam pulls on Alexandra’s head and Reign pulls involuntarily, too and she feels for the first time in her life what it is like to be made _love_ to. Alexandra _whimpers_ against her clit and she will never remember who pressed them even closer because Alexandra licks into her so deep and so pleased as if she would drink up life itself and Sam trembles in Reign’s back and Reign…well Reign pretty much fucking _dissolves_.

Alexandra knows exactly what she is doing. The pressure of her tongue drawing tight circles around Reign’s clit is _perfect_. The pace of her movements sometimes slow, sometimes picking up just the right amount of speed, is _perfect_. That she sucks Reign’s swollen flesh between her lips and teeth is _beyond_ perfect. Reign pushes Alexandra’s face closer into her folds all on her own by now. The heat is growing more and more in her abdomen to the point that it almost becomes unbearable. It needs a let out. Or she will lose it. Suddenly, Alexandra plunges her tongue in deep, and deeper and moans as if she tastes heaven. Sam pushes red tresses out of her face.

“Look, how much she enjoys this, Reign.”

She wishes she could look but she has no strength left to open her eyes. It is as if every sense in her body is tuned to what is happening between her legs, like she cannot hear, or feel, or sense anything else.

“Look, how much she loves you.”

Alexandra lets out another moan in approval. Slowly and steadily another kind of heat pools behind her shut eyelids. The closer Alexandra pushes her to the edge, the more intense grows the pressure in her eyes. Then Alexandra flicks her tongue in the perfect way over the perfect spot and Reign chokes: ”Yes …right there …right there.”

And all of a sudden, she is stretched so far that she cannot take one more second. This is the moment she always shied away from, where she always took this one deliberate step backwards. This time she is taking a step forward, running and flinging herself over the edge, flinging herself right out of space.

Her orgasm is the sweetest release in all her life. And the most powerful sensation she ever experienced. Her hand remains on Alexandra’s hand whereas her whole body rears and bends. She feels so _good_ she cannot find words for it. Not in English. Not in Kryptonese. Alexandra untied something inside her she didn’t even know had been so twisted all along. She feels like falling apart or turning into water and it probably only is due to Sam holding her _tight_ and _steady_ that she doesn’t disappear into this otherworldly feeling. When the strongest, most intense wave of pleasure hits her because, oh sweet love, Alexandra doesn’t stop, her eyes fly open and there are sparks dancing in front of her face. Red and sparkling and Reign feels liquid fire in her head, right behind her iris.

The necklace is cold against the warm skin of her sternum and while she tries to catch her breath all _trembling_ and _shivering_ and _gasping_ , she thinks that she will treasure this gift for the rest of her life.

This whole night, if she were honest.

 

.

 

Reign is still shaking slightly in her arms and all Sam hears and feels is her twin’s heartbeat pounding in her own chest.

Watching Reign like this with all her walls down and all her defenses unhinged has been one of the most breathtaking sights she ever saw. She wonders if she looks like this, too, when Alex eats her out. When Alex _fucks_ and _loves_ her. Does her mouth fall open like this? Do her brows furrow like this? Is the same amount of sheer, overpowering pleasure written all over her face like this? She doesn’t know the answer. The only thing  she knows is that she could watch Alex and Reign forever. Watching them together is turning her on in a way she didn’t know was possible before they started all this.

She feels the wetness running down the inside of her thighs, between her swollen folds, smearing against Reign’s back and when her twin shifts to snuggle deeper into their embrace, Sam can barely, _barely_ keep the moan in. Her state of complete horniness doesn’t improve one bit when Alex pushes herself up on her hands and looks at them with dark eyes and flushed cheeks and a chin glistening with wetness. Sam inhales a stumbling breath and reaches her hand out. Alex cannot stop panting but she doesn’t fail to kiss Sam dizzy. When Sam tastes Reign on Alex’ lips her head is reeling and she might possibly be very close to fainting. She feels a hand on her right thigh, above the same spot where Reign dug her nails in and desire zips straight to her center like a lightning bolt. It would be so easy to let Alex kiss her last breath away, push her into the covers right next to her twin and let her work her _magic_.

“Stop, baby,” she whispers against Alex’ hot mouth.

The redhead groans, pressing their foreheads together. She is _whining_. “Why?”

“Tonight, is about you and Reign.” She curls her long fingers into the soft hair in Alex’ neck. “I want you to fuck her like you fuck me.”

Alex does whine this time, _high_ and _needy_ , sounding close to crying.

“I want you to make up for the time you two lost.”

“Sam…”

She kisses her long and deep and slides out of the embrace with Reign. It takes less than one minute of watching Alex and Reign kissing again before Sam lets one hand wander into her sleeping shorts and the other cups her own breast. Alex slips a finger into Reign’s burning center and Sam slips a finger into herself. She is so wet that she doesn’t feel more than the most fleeting touch against her walls. So wet that one finger will not do anything. But she wants to mirror Alex’ movements and before her girlfriend doesn’t use a second finger she won’t either. When Alex finally does, Reign and Sam groan in sync.

Sam stretches herself, teases herself and feels the need to come pulsing between her legs like delicious fire. Alex seemingly wants to prolong teasing Reign to the point where they both can’t take it anymore, but Sam hears how her fingers pick up speed, hears how the rhythm of wet skin on skin becomes _faster_ and _rougher_ and Sam clenches desperately around her own fingers.

“Yes Alex …faster …faster.”

“Fuck Sam.”

Reign is way beyond the ability to form coherent words. In English.

“Lizrhom …lizrhom …I zhao.”

They come almost at the same time and Sam is sure - even when blinding white explodes in her head - that this is one of the most powerful orgasms she ever had. Alex sinks between them on the covers, all heavy breathing and exhaustion and sweat and they fold around her and it’s _good_ and _perfect_. Sam cannot believe that this isn’t some kind of dream, that this is her life and she wishes things will never have to change.

 

* * *

 

 

 

For a week life is _good_.

The little family slowly eases into something that could be called normality or everyday life. Sam returns to work and so does Alex. Ruby doesn’t stop clinging to Reign the morning after their reunion. Sam and Reign slowly figure out how to handle the separation, the physical split as well as the mental split. On some days, they get by with Sam tapping her foot against Reign’s when they all sit piled up on the couch. On other days, Sam is flying through the halls of the DEO during her lunch break, making Alex think the first time that the CFO is there to see _her._ But Sam threw her arms around Reign looking close to a nervous breakdown. It’s progress nonetheless.

On Wednesday night, Sam comes home exhausted and so ready to crawl into bed between Reign and Alex that she almost misses the commotion from the living room. She steps into the kitchen, turns around, and suddenly feels like she is in a movie. One of those scenes where the frame seems to have frozen and no one moves for around five seconds.

Ruby is standing on the couch, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders like a cloak and in her hand, she is holding a wooden spoon. Reign is kneeling in front of her, next to the coffee table and there is a colander upside down on her head. She looks absolutely hilarious. The only signs of Alex, who was supposed to babysit tonight, are her red hair poking out at one side of the couch and soft snoring noises. In the background runs the first season of _Game of Thrones_.

“I hereby knight you…” Ruby proclaims solemnly, spoon raised high.

Her voice trails off when she notices Reign’s eyes growing wide as saucers. Sam doesn’t lecture them until she snapped a picture, showing all three of them. She doesn’t have a lot of followers on Instagram. She simply doesn’t have the time. But this picture easily becomes one of her most popular ones, mere seconds after she posted it.

Friday, marks Reign’s first Game Night, at least the first since she became an independent self. Everyone is keeping it professional until it is time for Ruby to go to bed. They are playing at Lena’s place and no one will go home tonight, only into one bedroom or the other in the early hours of the morning. As soon as Sam returns to the living room, Lena and Alex pull out the shot glasses and the kind of alcohol Ruby doesn’t suspect them drinking for two more years. Lena and Sam show everyone during Monopoly that they earn each of the three letters in their working titles. Sam and Reign are so far in the lead after half an hour of Taboo that Kara demands new groups with the most heart wrenching pout.

For a while, everything is _perfect_. Work is good. Life is good. And the sex is straight out of this world.

On Monday morning, Sam thinks dreamily that she could get used to this.

 

.

 

On Monday afternoon, Kara Reign and the DEO have to take out an angry Metahuman with the ability to change his skin into any material he ever touched.

They are engaged in close combat in the foyer of the public library and he is actually able to keep two Kryptonians at arms-length when out of nowhere Reign’s world tilts and a wave of nausea hits her. It doesn’t last long but long enough for her to see the vending machine Kara hurls at the angry guy. She sees it rushing towards her, in perfect slow motion, giving her all the time in the world to sidestep. But for some reason there is a high-pitched beeping in her ears and her legs don’t obey her and the vending machine hits her square in the chest, sending her crashing into a row of book shelfs. Reign doesn’t think much about it at first. _Maybe_ the split did take a toll on her body after all. _Maybe_ she just needs a little more adjustment time. And it is not like anything actually happened. The vending machine looks worse than her after she forced her way out of the heap of books and broken shelves.

But it happens again.

Two days later, Reign and Kara are chasing after a Navy pilot who wants to punish the people he makes responsible for his PTSD by steering a F-35C plane straight into the office of his boss. Reign has always been faster than Kara. Always. But seconds before she would have caught up with the delusional Petty Officer Dunkin, she suddenly looses her balance midair and sags fifteen feet. Her vision grows hazy for a second, she feels like throwing up and it takes all her willpower to not smash into the harbor like a canon ball.

She doesn’t go to Alexandra or Sam or Kara afterwards. She tells herself that lapses like this can happen. That there is nothing to worry about. She is Reign after all. A Worldkiller. A Goddess.

On Friday, though, she comes face to face with a Vrang again in yet another hideout of the Expatriate’s. It is ridiculous because, by the grace of Yuda Kal, she knows she is faster, she knows her reaction time has always been pretty much lightning speed but when he leans back to headbutt her, she just blanks and when he smacks his square head right against her nose – damn it _hurts_. Reign punches him into a pulp and it is only thanks to Alexandra that she doesn’t accidentally goes too far.

Something is definitely wrong with her. Or with her body. She pushes the thought away.

Saturday morning rolls around _bright_ and _beautiful_ and _warm_. Quietly, Reign sneaks out of the bedroom to let Sam and Alexandra enjoy their much needed sleep a little longer. Ruby darts out of her room, the second the floorboard outside the bedroom door creaks under Reign’s left foot and they decide to spend the morning planting Crocuses in the garden. Sam calls them inside roughly an hour later with the promise of breakfast. Alexandra is preparing a round of coffee for the adults while Sam wipes some dirt out of her daughter’s face. She sends Ruby upstairs to clean up, they set the table and shortly afterwards the three adults stand in the narrow kitchen, sipping on coffee and the quiet morning bodes no ill.

If you think about it, though, does a nightmare ever really announce itself? When in those epic fantasy novels, the protagonist has this suspicion that something awful is about to happen, the tense atmosphere, the cramping stomach, the prickling skin. But does that really happen in real life?  At least it doesn’t happen to Reign. The nightmare sucks her in like a vortex and she hasn’t seen it coming. Those blackouts. They were nothing. Right?

Sam and Alexandra are especially silly this morning, constantly touching, constantly kissing and Reign watches them with soft eyes.

“There is some foam on your nose.”

“You could kiss it away.”

At any other two humans she would roll her eyes _loud_ and _obvious_. Instead of being annoyed by their sickening sweet behavior, Reign smiles into the coffee. Which tastes a bit strange by the way. Somehow metallic. Her brows furrow because her chest tightens, no _cramps_ and the metallic taste in her mouth grows stronger. She puts the mug on the counter. A coughing fit rattles her out of nowhere. It sounds wet and unhealthy and violent. In complete puzzlement she stares at her hand. The smooth, tanned skin is sprinkled red. Before she can make anything of it, a second fit overcomes her, and her lungs feel on fire.

“Hey Reign, you want to make some waffles with me and Ruby later?”

It’s Sam’s voice but it sounds as if it comes from far, far away. As if her head is suddenly trapped in thick fog.

“Reign?”

Alexandra sounds surprised. Reign wants to tell them that everything is alright. That she inhaled again while trying to swallow a mouthful of coffee. Instead she spills more warm blood in the palm of her hand and the floor seems to be a lot closer all of a sudden.

“Reign!”

She cannot answer them before she hits the ground.

 

.

 

The fingers in her hand are cold.

Cold and weak. Her grip is not reciprocated. Alex said they shouldn’t panic. She broke every speed limit on the way to the DEO, nonetheless. They put Reign in a bed in the med bay, powered the sunlamps to max and now they’re waiting. At least Sam is waiting, her hands still sprinkled with Reign’s blood. One second, she was wrapped up in Alex’ strong arms, kissing cappuccino foam from her nose, thinking that absolutely nothing could ruin this day and the next moment, Reign spit blood on the kitchen floor and collapsed right in front of them.

The blood on her face is gone now. Alex wiped it away when she put the oxygen mask on her face. Sam thinks she can still see it, though, so bright it was almost pastel, running from her bottom lip down her chin. She swallows. Her gaze drifts from Reign’s sleeping face down the bed to where Ruby is curled up.  She is draped half over the Worldkiller, her head resting on Reign’s thighs and she watches something on her phone. She wonders if Ruby has the unshakeable belief that everything will turn out alright or if she had to see too many scenes like this in the past year and grew in a protective way indifferent to it.

Her gaze shifts again. To Alex this time, who is standing on the other side of Reign’s bed, tense and quiet. She is trying to draw blood for a couple of tests. Tests that hopefully give them the assurance that all their worries are unfounded. The array of broken syringes in a metal tray next to Alex and her stormy expression means Reign’s body is not very cooperative. She is probably the only person in the world who knows how to draw a Kryptonian’s blood which apparently doesn’t amount to anything today. The next syringe breaks, too and Alex lets out a hissed cursed. Reluctantly, Sam lets go of her twin’s, hand because Alex needs the comforting touch more. She rounds the bed to carefully take the syringe from Alex’ trembling hands.

“Hey, look at me.”

Alex squeezes her eyes shut for a moment, breathes in and turns her head. She finds this perfect pair of hazel eyes tinted with fear and frustration. She wishes she could snap her fingers and make it disappear. Sam rubs soothing circles in the calloused skin of Alex’ palms like the redhead did so many times when Sam couldn’t control the fidgeting of her fingers with the inhibitor bracelets.

“Take a deep breath with me.”

Alex doesn’t break the eye-contact and inhales deeply through the nose.

“And now try again.”

The Vacutainer tube fills at the first try. In quick, experienced movements, Alex fills five tubes while Reign doesn’t even flinch.

“I get this to the lab right now,” Alex says after removing the syringe, “Call me when she wakes up.”

Sam kisses her softly on the cheek: “It will be alright.”

Alex averts her gaze and looks with heavy eyes at Reign: “It could also be really bad.”

She gives Sam’s hand a quick squeeze then hurries out of the med bay. Thinking that they could need a little more optimism, Sam pushes a hand through her hair.

“Mom?” Ruby sat up on the bed, her phone lying forgotten on the covers and her headphones dangling around her neck.

“Yes, sweetie?”

“Reign will get well again,” she sounds like she doesn’t really believe it, “Right?”

They both look at the sleeping Worldkiller. She looks so peaceful and calm, it makes Sam’s chest ache. She only ever saw her like this around Alex.

“You know what she always says.”

“I’m an almighty Worldkiller,” Ruby imitates Reign’s stern and slightly arrogant tone perfectly, “What is the worst that could happen.”

They both chuckle.

“She is a fighter. There is no way she won’t wake up.”

What Sam doesn’t know or doesn’t _want_ to know is that there are fights that even people like Kara and Reign lose. That there are enemies that cannot be beaten with just enough punches or a heat-gaze.

“Ok.”

Ruby sounds as if Sam’s words alone are enough to wake Reign up, that because Sam said so she will be better. Then Sam resumes to holding her sister’s hand and Ruby to watching YouTube or Instagram videos or whatever teenagers these days do online. Sam kind of loses track of time because her thoughts are simultaneously sucked into an abyss and spinning out of control in all directions. She only snaps out of it when suddenly Kara is standing beside her: “Sam?”

She jolts in the chair. To her surprise she is alone in the med bay except for Reign, who hasn’t moved in hours.

“Kara?” she asks confused, “Hey.”

“What are you doing here? What is Reign doing here?”

In a few words, Sam tells what has happened and why they are here.

“Oh,” Kara mouths, “Is Alex-“

“She is already in the lab.”

“Good,” Kara bobs her head, “She did seem a little out of it.”

Sam whips around: “What do you mean?”

Suddenly, Kara looks uncomfortable as if she just blurted something out she wasn’t supposed to say.

“Uhm.”

Because Sam is the mother of a teenage daughter, she knows how to make people talk.

“She seemed a little …” Kara starts and adjusts her glasses, “Slow this week?”

Sam arches an eyebrow in skepticism: “Slow?”

“I hit her with a vending machine, Sam,” Kara is giving her a meaningful look, “A Vrang broke her nose. She – “

Sam interrupts her by holding a hand up: “For how long has this been going on?”

Kara puts her hands behind her back, looks at her feet, scuffs the tip of her right flat against the dark flagstones: “A week. Maybe a bit longer.”

A heavy feeling sinks into the pit of her stomach. One week. And Reign didn’t tell them: “Have you seen Ruby?” she says instead of asking why her twin choose to suffer in silence.

“She’s with Winn.”

With that Sam turns away from Kara and focuses every thought on getting Reign to wake up. Maybe it’s silly. They are separated after all their link is gone or at least it is not the same anymore. But it is the only thing she can do.

 

.

 

Reign wakes up in the early hours of the evening.

Alex came back an hour before with food and Ruby in tow. The adults’ still half-full food containers stand forgotten on the nightstand when Reign blinks her eyes open and instantly reaches for the oxygen mask. Sam can calm her down enough, so Alex can remove the mask.

“What happened?” Reign is disoriented and her tongue heavy. Sam soothingly strokes her cheeks while Alex checks the Worldkiller’s consensual light reflex.

“You thought it was a good idea to start the day by collapsing in our kitchen.”

Reign crinkles her brows: “Oh.”

“Are you feeling better?” Ruby asks with round eyes, leaning over half the bed.

“I’m fine.”

Sam scoffs: “Just as fine as you have been the past week?”

Reign stares at the braunule in the back of her left hand, so she doesn’t have to look at Sam’s disapproving expression. Alex looks between them quizzically.

“What do you mean?”

Sam waves a hand through the air: “Kara told me Reign here behaved odd during the whole past week.”

Alex’ brows furrow and the corner of her mouth turn downwards for a second. She was always there, during every mission but she cannot have her eyes everywhere all the time. There are things even Agent Alex Danvers misses. Reign answers the unspoken question before anyone has to verbalize it: “I didn’t want to worry you,” she swallows, “Everything just returned to normal.”

Alex puts her hands in her hips and shakes her head: “You should have told us. That’s what you do in a family.”

“What is wrong with me?”

Three pairs of eyes are suddenly trained on Alex. She shakes her head again: “I don’t know, yet. I ran a handful of tests, but they haven’t come back until now.”

“Any guesses?” Sam asks hopefully. Not knowing is always a _particular_ kind of worse than being aware of the cause of a problem.

“What I know so far is that your hemoglobin value and oxygen level are going crazy. The hemoglobin value is too high, the oxygen level is too low. The cause could be different things.” She slipped into the doctor role effortlessly and calmly explains what causes such changes in the body, which tests she ran and which kind of tests she wants to run now that Reign is awake.

“Chest X-ray and a CT?” Reign asks looking confused.

Alex nods: “I need to see your lungs. If there is any damage that caused the internal bleeding.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” Ruby mumbles.

“If it’s a puncture or other kind of wound, we can close it,” Alex says seriously, “If the tissue change is caused by something else – “ she trails off. They all dwell on their own thoughts for a couple of moments.

Sam feels slightly cold, there’s a shiver running down her back and a block of ice sits heavy as a stone in her stomach. So maybe nightmares do announce themselves because, Yuda Kal may protect them, Sam has the ugly notion that something awful is looming over all of them.

“Let’s just hope your lungs received a light trauma sometime in the last week.”

“I never thought I have to hope for something like that,” Reign says bitterly.

Ten minutes later, Reign lies on the stretcher of the computer tomograph looking all kinds of uncomfortable. Through the glass panel separating the room with the CT from the small observation room, Sam sees how Alex mumbles soothing words into Reign’s ears, gives her a peck on the forehead and leaves. It vaguely reminds her of the day all of this more or less started. The day she spent with Alex in a similar room for a similar reason at L-Corp. The day she fell in love. It feels like a life time ago.

Ruby is off somewhere with Kara and Winn and Sam is glad about it because she didn’t want to talk about how serious her twin’s condition is with her daughter around. Alex joins her in front of the computer screens and she asks: “What do we do if it is something serious?”

Alex trains her eyes on the pictures appearing in front of them. “First, we hope it isn’t something serious.”

The more the black and white scans takes shape, though, the more does Sam lose faith in optimism.

“I’m not a doctor but I am sure a lung is not supposed to look so – “ she gulps, “Dotted.”

The scan is a cross section showing the lungs from above and the healthy dark tissue is traversed by more than just the white glowing arteries. In both lungs shine little round formations not bigger than pinheads. Their number is what scares Sam.

“There are multiple lesions both in the right and left lung,” Alex says in a flat voice, a voice showing the struggle to keep a professional distance. The trembling fingers clicking through the scans of other layers betray that attempt.

“Alex…” Sam’s voice is a shudder.

“It still could be nothing more than a simple trauma,” the Agent mumbles before returning to Reign.

Sam returns to the med bay without them and commits the grave mistake of googling _lesions_ and _lung_. The all-knowing search engine spits out various causes for internal bleeding in the thorax and each is worst then the one before: Bronchitis, Pneumonia, Pulmonary embolism, ruptured Aneurysms. The list goes on like that and ends somewhere talking about cancer. She shoves the phone away. Kryptonians don’t get cancer, she thinks stubbornly.

A few minutes later, Alex and Reign walk through the door. No matter how much she acts, Reign cannot hide the long, exhausted sigh as she sinks back into the cushions or how greedy she sucks the air in through the oxygen mask.

“Tell me, Doctor Danvers,” she grins lopsided from behind the mask, “What is happening to me?”

There is a glint in her dark eyes, giving the impression that she thinks whatever causes the bleeding is just another sinner she can easily force to their knees. A minor inconvenience she can take care of with a snap of her fingers. Alex shows her the scans and explains their meanings.

“It might be nothing worse than a trauma that got out of hand because you ignored it,” she finishes.

Reign looks her deep in the eyes: “What else?”

Alex lists up the causes Google already proposed to Sam.

“When can I leave?” Reign asks, shifting restlessly on the bed. She may be exhausted and weakened but she is still a Worldkiller. She never liked being tied down to one place.

“Leaving is nothing you should be thinking about right now,” Alex sighs, “I want to keep you here. To monitor you.” Reign scowls in heavy disagreement. “I can help you better here, Reign.” The scowl stays firmly in place, but Sam sees how Reign’s eyes soften around the edges.

Before they can argue any further, Kara steps into the med bay carrying a sleeping Ruby in her arms: “Any news?”   

Alex gives her a short update.

“This doesn’t make you stronger than me, Zor-El,” Reign grumbles soon.

“I wouldn’t even dream about it,” Kara says with an easy smile.

While Reign and Kara continue with their banter, Sam casts a glance at Ruby and then at her watch and finally at Alex: “I cannot convince you to come home with us tonight?”

Alex slips an arms around her waist and Sam curls into her on instinct: “I have a bad feeling about leaving her side.”

She nods against her shoulder: “Call me when you have the test results.”

“Ok.”

Carefully, she shakes Ruby awake and says good-bye to Kara.

“Get well soon, Rei,” Ruby yawns half-asleep and half back to _falling_ asleep with her head resting on Reign’s chest.

No one mentions the nickname or Reign’s tinted cheeks. Eventually, Kara picks her up again: “I’ll carry her to the car for you.”

“Thanks,” Sam smiles weakly, “Will you go home, too? I could drive you?”

The blonde takes her up on the offer, says good-night to Alex and Reign and leaves.

“Don’t stay up too long,” Sam say while cupping Alex’ strained face, “You need to rest, too, don’t forget that.”

“You’re such a mom.”

“You still love me.”

“That’s true.”

They meet in the middle for a light but long kiss. Sam holds her tight, savoring every second of this short lived joy. Reign makes gagging sounds behind them.

“Don’t try anything funny tonight.” The Worldkiller rolls her eyes. “You need to concentrate on getting well again and not on getting into Alex’ pants."

“As if I need to concentrate for that.”

“Hey!” Alex exclaims with pink cheeks.

“Please, Reign,” Sam places a hand tentatively against her twin’s cheek. Reign only huffs which is enough to satisfy her. She briefly kisses her temple, gives Alex another kiss and heads towards the parking lot. It will be the first of many short and fearful nights for Sam.

 

.

 

Because Alex is a good listener, especially when it comes to her gut, she decides to bring work into the med bay instead of researching further in her lab.

Reign is fast asleep while she arranges two chairs in such a way that she hopefully is spared from a sore back in the morning. The hours tick by quietly and she ticks off one medical article on lung lesions after the other. She cannot really concentrate because part of her constantly thinks about the test results. Without them all she can do is guessing. Staring blankly at Reign, she racks her brain trying to find the one clue she apparently missed. Maybe it was the split? Maybe it was the red-sun radiation? Maybe it was something she doesn’t even come up with now. And why do the sunlamps apparently _not_ work? Yes, it takes more to render Reign powerless than it does for Kara, but does that mean it also takes more for her to heal? Eventually, Alex falls asleep without having an answer to any of those questions.

She jerks awake again a couple of hours later because her phone vibrates. The test results came back. Quietly, she hurries into her lab and calls the various charts and data up on a computer without sitting down. She clicks through several files then clicks through them again and finally lowers herself onto a swivel chair, face ashen and gut churning. She checks the time on her phone. A quarter to one in the morning. It doesn’t take her long to decide whether she should make the call or not.

“Hey, did I wake you up?”

Lena sounds tired but not like she has already been asleep. Alex can picture her perfectly in her office at CatCo poring over front pages and column segmentations, whishing to go finally home to Kara. “ _No, it’s ok_ ,” Lena yawns, “ _What can I do for you, Agent?_ ”

Alex puts a hand though her hair. Her tone is heavy-hearted: “Kara didn’t tell you?”

“ _What should have Kara told me_?”

“Reign is sick.”

There is pause at the other end and Alex imagines how Lena shuts her eyes, takes a deep breath and braces for yet another evil ready to ruin their lives.

“W _hat do you have so far_?” 

Alex sends her the results via mail and waits for Lena to go through them. She has a couple of questions about Reign’s powers and the sunlamps and hemoglobin values and Alex answers all of them patiently.

“ _Are you there tomorrow_?”

Alex nods before she remembers that the other woman cannot see her: “Yes. I wouldn’t be able to relax at home anyways.”

“ _I’ll be there after the ten o’clock meeting._ ”

“Thank you, Lena.”

“ _I may not be her friend, but she is mine_ ,” Lena sighs, “ _And she means so much to you and Sam_.”

Alex thanks her again and they end the call. With a bad feeling in her gut, Alex returns to the med bay. She checks Reign’s vital signs again which are thankfully stable and curls up in the bed next to her. She sends a quick text to Sam, containing only three little words and then falls into a deep, dreamless sleep.

 

* * *

 

 

 

The next morning, Alex wakes up forgetting for a couple of blissful moments where she is and why.

Drowsily, she stares at the ceiling while she slowly wakes up. Something disturbs the calm around her, though. A rhythmic, dripping sound. Like water dripping into a sink out of a leaking tab. She turns her head. And blinks a couple of times. The next moment, she is wide awake, jumps out of bed and shouts: “Reign? Reign, where are you?”

In a frenzy, she rushes through the still mostly empty halls of the DEO. She looks in the war room, in the central office scaring Winn half to death and in various training rooms but no Reign. Eventually, she stumbles into one of the ready rooms and sighs in relief.

J’onn is standing in the small kitchen unit frying eggs and Reign is sitting at one of the tables, fork and knife in hand and waiting eagerly for breakfast.

“Here you are. I was looking for you everywhere!” Alex says heatedly stomping over to her girlfriend.

Reign juts her bottom lip out and huffs: “I was hungry.”

On the back of her left hand is a band-aid which explains the dripping sound that woke Alex up. Reign yanked the braunule out and the remaining content of the infusion bag dripped on the floor.

“I found her in front of the fridge eating a raw egg, “J’onn says amusedly.

Despite the initial shock, Alex grins at Reign. She sits next to the Worldkiller, happily accepting the coffee J’onn slides in front of her.

“How are you feeling?”

Reign shrugs: “Fine.”

Alex hides the disappointment behind the rim of the coffee mug because, yeah, she knows it is a lie. Lena joins her in the lab a couple of hours later, carrying two large coffees. They discuss the various test results again, possible medication and alternative treatments until Sam pokes her head in the lab at half past three.

“I brought food,” she says, holding up two brown paper bags.

They gather in the ready room after Sam hunted down Reign who escaped her bed a second time today.

“Kale salad for Lena,” Alex says handing out the food. Reign wrinkles her nose in clear disgust. “Cheese burger for me. Three double cheese burgers with extra jalapeños for Reign.”

Lunch passes easy and uneventful. Afterwards, Lena must return to CatCo but not before reminding Alex to keep her updated. The others return to the med bay and while Alex sets up the braunule for the third time, Sam suddenly speaks up: “Hey, Reign, look at me for a second.”

Reign does as she is told, scrunching her face up in confusion: “Why?”

Sam cups her face and pulls her head carefully first in one then in the other direction: “Alex…”

Goosebumps are spreading over Alex’s arm at her girlfriend’s tone. She rounds the bed to stand beside Sam and both stare at Reign who looks more and more unhappy.

“What is it?”

Alex pulls a little flashlight out of a pocket of her pants and checks Reign’s irises. They are yellow. Not bright of course more a hue but it is enough to worry about.

“Breathe on me.”

“What?” Reign asks puzzled.

“Just do it,” Alex says nervously.

Reign is definitely reluctant and hesitant but complies after a moment.

“It’s a bit sweet,” Alex mumbles absentmindedly and walks to a sideboard. She returns to the bed with a blood pressure meter.

“Give me your arm.”

Reign looks between the two in quick turns.

“Do you have an idea?” Sam asks slowly and hesitantly because, Jesus, yellow eyes are _not_ a good sign.

Alex doesn’t answer before the meter beeps: “I think it’s liver failure.”

Sam gasps and Reign says: “That is…bad…right?”

“Why do you think that?” Sam asks.

Alex removes the meter from around Reign’s arm: “Her breath smells a bit sweet, her blood pressure is too high and the eyes.” She puts the meter back into the sideboard and pulls her phone out: “I must call Lena,” she says with a tight face, looking all worried and tense at Reign who doesn’t understand a word, “We have a new symptom.”

 

* * *

 

 

 

Alex doesn’t sleep at home for the next four days, preferring to be holed up in the lab with Lena until whatever fine line between night and morning.

After sharing the bed with two people in the past weeks rather than one, Sam feels especially lonely. She is of no help in the lab and she has work and Ruby to think about, too. Those responsibilities don’t help her through the long ours of the night, though, in a bed that is too big and too cold. She tosses and turns for hours clad in one of Alex’ hoodies and wrapped up in Reign’s cloak and cannot stop imagining one horrible disease after another. After three days, she begins to sleep on the couch while watching _F.R.I.E.N.D.S_ reruns. Every morning during breakfast, Ruby asks if Sam can pick her up from school and take her to the DEO and Sam cannot deny her this wish because she rushes there herself every free minute she has.

Being at the DEO doesn’t improve anyone’s mood. Alex is barely around, chaining herself to the various instruments and test tubes and endless stacks of medical charts and data Sam doesn’t understand. And if she joins them on a rare occasion, it is to check on Reign whose condition hasn’t improved at all or to wolf down any meal Sam puts in front of her. The lack of _sleep_ is visible under her eyes, the lack of _showering_ in her hair and the lack of _progress_ in her demeanor.

Lena sacrifices most of her free time to help the tense Agent but cannot contribute a sudden miracle either. In the course of one week, Reign suffered from lung lesions, liver failure and on Tuesday the clotting time of her blood escalated, and she bled all over Alex’ hands while the redhead tried to draw blood and on Thursday she developed a fever due to an infection in the gall bladder. Things in general are not improving at all. Frankly, they are turning to fucking shit.

Reign is so high on medication and rattled by pain that she spends most of the day sleeping. Sam often found herself thinking in the past days that she would do anything to trade places with her twin. Reign doesn’t deserve to suffer like this. Not even after what she did in the past. Sam rests her elbows on her knees and buries her head in her hands. Why does this keep happening to them? Why are they never granted a consistent time of happiness? She feels the familiar cold hands of helplessness creeping up on her and she is close to crying. She cannot help Alex. She cannot help Reign. It all sucks phenomenally.

“How are you holding up?” Lena stands in the entry to the med bay, holding up two steaming cups.

Sam pulls a second chair next to hers: “I’m not the one you should be asking this,” she answers, her eyes trained on Reign’s face that looks exhausted even in drug induced sleep.

“Sam…,” Lena says in that all-knowing tone she sometimes has, tilting her head slightly, “This is taking a toll on all of you.” She hands Sam one of the mugs. “Both you and Alex look horrible, too and I cannot even imagine how you must feel.”

“I’m scared, Lena,” she admits staring into the coffee without taking a sip, “What if you guys cannot find out what is causing all this? Which organ will fail next? What if it is her heart?” She didn’t even notice how much her right knee bounced until Lena puts a hand on it.

“We will find a cure,” She gives her a reassuring smile, her green eyes shining softly like an Irish meadow, “Alex and I are the two smartest women working in this facility and two of the three smartest people. She will not die.”

Sam wipes snot from her nose with the back of her hand: “Were you always this full of yourself?”

Lena’s smile widens, and she shrugs, not able to hide the pride in her words: “Self-confidence is an armor that took years to assemble and takes even more to maintain. If you have it, then own it.” They share a quiet laugh.

After a while, Sam speaks up again. Lena is her oldest and best friend. She feels safe sharing thoughts with her she even hides from Alex, especially now when her girlfriend is constantly so on edge: “I just feel so helpless, you know?”

“When has Sam Arias ever been helpless?”

Sam shakes her head: “I’m serious. I’m no doctor, no bio-engineer, no nothing. I only understand half of what you and Alex talk about and Reign is just getting worse and worse.” The tears are stinging hot in the corners of her eyes. “I cannot do anything.”

Wordlessly, Lena takes the cold coffee from her hands only to lace them with her own: “You are here.”

Sam hiccups: “What?”

“You are here for Reign and for Alex. Every day. You make sure that Alex eats and doesn’t forget that she has a family. You noticed the liver failure first. And on top of that you still go to work and take care of your daughter. What you do matters, Sam.”

“It doesn’t feel like enough.”

Lena sighs in defeat. Then her eyes flicker towards Reign’s left hand where the braunule was and which is now heavily bandaged: “You really want to do something?”

Sam nods vehemently: “Anything.”

Lena squeezes her hand and rolls her eyes: “I know that I will get in trouble with Alex for this but-“ She leaves the sentence unfinished and looks at Sam as if a million thoughts are running through her head.

“What is it? What do you have in mind?”

Lena clicks her tongue: “Ok. I know that your physique is different from Reign’s. You’re human now. But still, you once shared the same organism and now that we cannot draw more of Reign’s blood we could try working with yours.”

“If it helps. Of course, I will do it.”

“We have to compare your blood and DNA first to check whether it would really work but if it does, maybe we could even test some proto-remedies on you.”

Cautious hope is spreading in Sam’s chest: “Are you any further in figuring out the cause?”

Lena averts her gaze and Sam already knows the answer: “One organ after the other is malfunctioning. If this continues, she will suffer from multi organ dysfunction syndrome before Sunday. It is like her body is simply-“ She is struggling intently for the right word: “Disintegrating.”

Sam squeezes her eyes shut, fighting of the tears she knows will come as soon as Lena leaves.

Suddenly, Lena stands up: “I’ll talk to Alex. See if she is up for our idea.”

She hugs Sam briefly and rushes towards the lab. The second she is out of sight, Sam lets the tears fall in silence.

Half an hour later, she is jolted out of her apathy by loud noises drifting down the hallway.

“What were you even thinking!?”

Sam is out of the chair the next second because, God no, it’s Alex’ voice bouncing angrily and hard off the walls. She finds them at the food of the stairs leading to the balcony. Alex is clearly upset, all red in the face and balled up fists while Lena gives off calm composure.

“We have no clue how it will affect her system!” Alex shouts so loud that heads are turning all around them.

Lena holds her hands up: “Alex, listen to me. You are being unreasonable.” Her voice is steady and tentative, and it only riles the redhead up more:

“Don’t tell me how I feel!”

“We need an organism to test the proto-remedies on and Sam is the only one available because Reign is too weak and her clotting factor a disaster.”

“I don’t care. We have to find another one. We will not use Sam and that’s enough!”

Sam has rarely if _ever_ seen Alex like this. She is downright furious. After taking a deep breath she takes a step forward: “That is not for you to decide, is it?”

Alex whirls around, looking all kinds of astonished: “Sam? You cannot be serious?”

“You can bet I am,” she flails an arm in the direction of the med bay, “I cannot sit there every day and watch how Reign is …is …withering away right in front of me. I have to do something!”

Alex is narrowing her eyes dangerously: “You can do something, you-“

Sam cuts her off: “What, Alex? Tell me what I can do?”

Alex takes a step back, gasping for air and tensing her shoulders: “I …”

“Let me help, please. Use my blood. Use my body. Anything,” Sam pleads, “But don’t reduce me to a mere spectator.”

“I cannot do that,” she retorts steadfast ignoring Sam’s plea, “I will not do that.”

“Then let Lena do it.”

“No!” she shouts back, “Just no!”

Lena is looking helplessly between them, sensing that this argument is getting out of hand.

“I don’t need your consent for that, Alex!” Sam shouts back, her own words growing sharper now.

“You-“

“Hey, hey, hey,” Kara says, landing between the arguing women out of nowhere clad in blue and red, “What’s going on here?”

“Stay out of this, Kara.”

“Your sister wants to keep me from helping Reign!” Kara stares at them wide-eyed and then at Lena in confusion.

“You cannot just put your life on the line like that,” Alex throws into the brief silence.

“I’m not putting anything on the line. I just-“

“How about we all try to calm down a bit,” Kara tries carefully but she is completely ignored.

“It’s too dangerous. I’m not letting that happen. You’re not getting yourself killed on my watch.”

Sam lets out a bitter laugh: “What do you want to do to keep me from it?”

“Ok, ok,” Kara steps in front of Alex, looking all determined and serious, “I’m breaking this up now.”

“I will …” Alex starts then focuses on Kara, “What?”

“We’re leaving. You need to cool your head,” Kara says and then throws Alex over her shoulder without warning.

“Put me down, Kara!” the redhead roars, “Right now!”

Kara ignores her and looks at Lena: “We’re going to my place. I’m keeping her there for the night.” Lena nods and before she takes off, the blonde turns around a last time: “I’ll call you later. I have an idea why Reign is doing so bad.”

Then Kara flies out of the DEO with a still vehemently and loudly protesting Alex in her arms.

“Well,” Lena sighs, “That went worse than expected.”

“I cannot believe her,” Sam seethes raking her fingers through her hair.

Lena doesn’t react to that and says instead: “You are staying at my place tonight. We will get Ruby and then we will go straight to my flat.”

Sam halts mid-motion: “But Reign …”

“As sad as it is, I’m sure Reign wouldn’t notice if you were there or not.”

“But what if something happens and no one is here?”

Lena pulls her gently towards the exit by the elbow: “Don’t worry. The machine monitoring her vital signs is linked to mine and Alex’ phone. When something happens, we will know immediately.”

That is enough for Sam to yield.

 

.

 

Lena drives them to the Ahmadis, brings Ruby to the car and drives them back downtown.

In her state, Sam should not wield any kind of machine right now. She plants Sam on the big, comfortable couch, puts a blanket around her shoulders as soon as they enter the generous flat and walks with Ruby to the kitchen.

“Where is mama?” the girl asks.

Lena hands her the take-out menu of various Pizza places: “Your mamas had a fight, sweetie. Alex is staying with Kara tonight.”

“It’s about Reign, right?”

“You’re too smart for your age,” Lena says sweetly and pats her on the head affectionately.

Sam doesn’t move from her spot not when the Pizza arrives and not when Lena and Ruby settle next to her. They eat in front of the TV with their hands as an exception and watch _To All the Boys I Loved Before_ and when the credits roll, Sam still didn’t move. Ruby talks her into eating a bit but otherwise they leave her alone. Lena thinks it would be for the best to let her cool off in peace.

After Ruby fell asleep snuggled up against her mother and Lena runs out of things to watch she is not interested in anyways, she speaks up: “Don’t be too hard on Alex.”

Sam doesn’t give away any sign that she heard her, so Lena tries a different angle to bring her back down to earth: “Did you two ever talk about March last year?”

Sam turns her head slowly until they are looking at each other: “No. Not really. Alex and Reign never wanted to.”

Lena nods into her red-wine: “Can you remember anything of that time?”

A shudder runs down Lena’s spine even one year later. The memory of thinking they lost Sam forever after the final battle against Purity and Pestilence is still fresh and crystal clear. Absentmindedly, she runs a finger over the fine scar tissue in her right palm. Their scars may have healed but they are there nonetheless. And some of them are more visible than others.

Sam shakes her head: “It’s like a black-hole. I cannot even remember how much time passed.”

“For us it was two months,” Lena says heavy-hearted, “Eight whole weeks we thought you were dead. For me it was devastating enough but Alex and Reign-” she swallows around the onslaught of emotions, the onslaught of more memories of Alex drinking herself half to death, of Reign being broken and miserable, of Ruby slipping into depressions, “Alex and Reign were so lost without you. You have no idea how that was for them.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I want you to understand why Alex reacted the way she did.”

Sam wraps the blanket tighter around herself and begins to play with one of Ruby’s locks: “I don’t think I can understand that.”

“She thought she lost you, Sam,” Lena says sternly. Sometimes she wants to grab her best friend and shake the stubbornness out of her, “She thought you were dead and now Reign is basically dying in her hands. Can’t you see how much this reminds her of last year? How scared she is?”

“That doesn’t give her the right to make decisions for me,” Sam mumbles.

“No, it doesn’t but-“ Lena’s phone chimes next to the empty pizza carton, “It’s Kara.” She takes the call: “Hey, darling. How is it over there?”

Kara sounds tired beyond words: “ _Don’t get me started. Alex needed more than one kick in the ass_.”

“Tell me about it,” she glances towards Sam who is back in her own head, “So, what did you find out?”

She hears Kara moving around through the line and how her voice drops: “ _I think it has to do with the Harun-El._ ”

Lena arches an eyebrow: “The Harun what?”

“ _Remember the thing that crashed in the desert a couple of weeks ago? The container from Krypton_?”

“The thing that caused the split?” She feels Sam’s eyes on her.

“ _Yes, exactly. The stone inside is called the Harun-El or the Rock of Yuda Kal. It’s pretty powerful and had a long tradition in the cult of Yuda Kal._ ”

“Why do you know so much about it?”

“ _I looked into in when I had the first suspicion. Then I checked the inscription on the outside of the container and looked it up in the Book of Rao._ ”

Lena grabs the phone a little tighter: “But Alex ran tests on Sam and Reign after the split. They came back ordinary. Everything was alright.”

“ _I don’t know about that, but I think you should look into it with Alex as soon as you can._ ”

She nods slowly, training her eyes on Sam again. If Reign’s body is behaving like this, no one can rule out that the same will not happen to Sam: “I will first thing tomorrow,” she pauses briefly, “Did you tell Alex? How is she?”

Kara groans: “ _I haven’t told her, yet. She was so upset she wouldn’t stop pacing and muttering for half an hour. How is Sam?_ ”

“Similar,” she says tight lipped.

“ _Why do they have to argue so much?_ ” Kara groans again.

“Only about the important things. Because they care so much about each other.”

“ _I know. But still._ ”

Lena steers the topic to more private matters: “Will I see you tomorrow?”

“ _I happen to have a super-hero alter-ego that accidentally works at the facility you’ll be at tomorrow. Chances are high me could run into each other._ ” Lena can hear the loving smile through the phone and despite the tense atmosphere, she feels very warm on the inside:

“Good. I’ll make sure chances are at a hundred percent.”

Kara chuckles: “ _Love you_.”

“I love you, too.” She ends the call almost feeling bad for her miserable friend right next to her. But they have a lead now, something that might turn the tables on Reign’s sickness.

 

* * *

 

 

 

The first thing Sam thinks the next morning is that she needs to talk to Alex.

She drags herself into the shower and to the coffee machine long before Ruby or Lena wake up. Fighting with Alex is horrible at any other time but right now, Jesus Christ, it comes close to torture. She just finished scribbling  a note, threw her jacket on and is on her way to the front door when there is a knock. Sam freezes with her hand on the handle because this is Lena’s apartment and she cannot answer her door like that but then again, she is the only one awake. Not sure what to expect, she pulls the handle down.

“Alex …?”

Alex is standing on the other side, one hand raised to knock again and holding a paper bag in the other. She looks like her night was a lot like Sam’s, with dark circles under her eyes and her skin even paler than usually.

“Can I come in?”

Sam steps aside immediately. In silence, they walk into the kitchen and taking a deep breath, Alex sets the bag on the counter: “You were right yesterday. I have no right to make decisions for you.”

“No, you don’t,” Sam says curtly.

Alex clears her throat, nervously rubbing her neck: “I’m sorry I tried to.”

“Lena told me about March.” Alex stares at her with wide-eyes. “You and Reign always avoid that subject like it’s poison,” Sam rushes out before Alex can block her off like so many times before, “You never talk to me and Reign …God …she hid those memories from me. I have no idea what happened during that time,” she scoffs, “I mean even Ruby runs away from it.” Alex begins to look like she would rather go back to fighting than continuing talking about this. “I can only imagine what it must have been like for you, but I never knew. And then Lena told me yesterday and I get it now.”

“You do?”

“Better than before at least,” Sam concedes in a small voice not trying to pretend to exactly understand how her family felt because, jeez, she cannot, “You are scared, Alex. You think March will repeat itself and that you could lose us both.”

That hit the nail right on the head because suddenly Alex’ eyes shine red and she reaches out for Sam with trembling hands: “It’s …I cannot …” she mumbles, and Sam wordlessly pulls her against her chest.

“We have to try,”

“I know.”

“It’s probably our only chance.”

“I know.”

Sam leans back a bit and cups Alex’ face: “I trust you. And Lena. If anything funny happens with me, I know you will take care of it.”

As an answer, Alex presses her lips against Sam’s in a desperate kiss. Sam kisses back just as eager and deep and pulls Alex even closer. Soon, the kitchen counter digs in her back and Alex is nibbling at her bottom lip. Sam flicks her tongue out. Alex’ grip on her hips tightens and –

“Mama!”

Ruby comes bouncing into the room and Alex and Sam spring apart, blushing furiously. It’s not that they don’t kiss around their daughter but, Jesus, usually they keep tongues and hands to themselves.

“Hey, sweetie,” Alex greets her with a warm hug.

“Look who came back to their senses.” Lena comes walking into the kitchen already ready for the day, dressed in a fitting blouse and high-waisted dark pants. “Did Kara talk with you about the Harun-El?”

Swaying a bit on the spot, her arms still wrapped tightly around Ruby, Alex nods: “Yeah. Let’s take that thing apart.”

 

.

 

The trio meets up with Kara in the DEO foyer and their ways split soon afterwards.

Alex, Lena and Kara head for the high security storage department whereas Sam and Ruby head straight for the med bay. To their surprise, the Worldkiller is awake. She is sitting in bed and stares at the opposite glass wall in high concentration. She is carving a symbol into the glass with her heat-gaze. The moment she is finished, Ruby launches herself on the bed: “Reign! You’re awake!”

Reign’s greeting is less enthusiastic but at least she can muster a weak smile. Sam kisses her forehead totally ignoring Reign’s grumble and warm cheeks. Then Ruby notices the carving: “What is that?”

They all look at the symbol. The outermost lines are the same as with the symbol of Rao, but the inside is not a teardrop but an upside-down, stylized A. The lines are sharper than in Rao’s sigil and the only organic line is the flourishing curve that makes the bar in the A. “It’s called the Ashtar,” Reign explains in slow words, “It’s the symbol of the great Goddess Yuda Kal.”

“I never heard of her. Kara never mentioned her. Only Rao,” Sam says amazed by the reddish glowing symbol.

Reign scoffs which turns into a coughing fit: “She is the Goddess of Life and Fertility but during the process that made Rao the only God among the Kryptonians she was denounced and disgraced.” Her tone is getting bitter: “They called her a beast and a monster and banned her into the darkness.”

“That’s so sad,” Ruby says, “Why did they do that?”

“You have to ask Zor-El.”

Reign’s words make Sam realize that although they are both Kryptonians, Kara and Reign have vastly different ideas about what that means.

“Well, I like it,” Ruby says cheerfully, jumping up from the bed to snap pictures of the Ashtar.

“What does it mean?” Sam asks, looking at her daughter taking one selfie after the other.

“Bring light to the dark,” Reign says solemnly, “Or be the light in the dark. English is an insufficient language to express the full meaning.”

Sam turns back to her, smiling softly and pushing hair out of Reign’s face: “Of course it is.”

 

.

 

For lunch, Kara and Sam can convince their girlfriends to leave the lab and they all gather around Reign’s bed, passing around Chow mein, potstickers, fried rice and spring rolls.

Lena and Alex share with them what they have so far about the Harun-El which is sketchy by all means. The only thing they know for sure is that the Harun-El and the split are responsible for Reign’s condition after all. Even though the initial test results Alex put together didn’t hint at anything like that.

“We think-“ Lena begins.

“That you were never meant to have a body of your own.”

“Very cheering,” Reign mutters.

“Your body is a copy of Sam’s, but it might not be a body in itself,” Lena continues.

“That sounds kind of confusing,” Kara says, sharing puzzled glances with the Worldkiller.

“We aren’t sure, either,” Alex defends herself, “But Reign, your body is disintegrating, and we don’t know why or how to stop it, yet.”

Reign looks between Alex and Lena with a sour face: “You are both terrible at speaking to sick people.”

They share a brief round of laughter. Brief because Reign begins to cough up blood again after ten seconds and Alex goes into instant panic overdrive because of the Worldkiller’s bad clogging factors. Kara and Lena are quick to gather the empty food containers and Ruby and leave the med bay.

Five minutes later, Alex is preparing an infusion bag full of blood clotting factors and Sam is back to holding Reign’s clammy hand. She is talking in a soft, soothing voice to her twin to calm her down and to distract her from the fact that Alex has to risk a new wound that won’t stop bleeding to stop the bleeding. Oh, the irony.

“We are family,” Sam says in a serious voice, one hand holding Reign’s, the other caressing her cheek gently, “You and I, Reign. And Alex and Ruby.” She tilts her head, fights against the tears threatening to spill over at Reign looking so weak and fragile, “And we don’t give up on family.” Her twin gives her a tense smile and even that seems to be too strenuous. Sam rests her forehead against Reign’s, whispering, “El Mayarah.” It is a statement and an imploration at the same time.

“El Mayarah,” Reign repeats, clinging to her sister with all the strength she has left.

Then she winces because Alex pushed the needle through the sore skin in the crook of her left arm.

 

* * *

 

 

 

During the following days, time seems to stretch into incomprehensible infinity.

Every minute feels like an hour while simultaneously the days slip and drift into each other without anyone noticing. Alex and Lena fell asleep three nights in a row on swivel stools, their bloodshot eyes glued to microscopes and culture dishes. Sam finds herself admits all their chaos more and more to provide them with blood, DNA and an endless stream of coffee and for CT-scans, MRT-scans, ECGs and EEGs.

She handles work from the med bay when Monday rolls around accompanied by a severe temperature drop and a steady drizzle. The night before, Ruby chained herself to one of the bunk beds in the ready room and Alex and Sam decided to stay at the DEO until Reign is better without further ado. Alex and Lena come up with one proto-remedy after the other and one after the other fails. Reign is slipping in and out of consciousness while the condition of her organs steadily worsens. She endures it all with a quiet stoicism that Sam simply has to admire because, well shit, apart from Kara and Ruby they are all kind of losing hope. Each day feels like a nightmare they cannot wake up from.

 

* * *

 

 

On the brink of Tuesday morning while March is gradually drawing to a close, Alex finds herself sitting at Reign’s bedside alone.

Lena went home earlier after apologizing for twenty minutes but she has to go home and really, really needs a good night’s rest in her own flat and in her own bed. Or a bed at all, honestly. Slowly and panicked, Alex comes to the realization that she is at her wits’ end. They tried everything to stop the decay from spreading through Reign’s body but at the end of the day they are tilting at windmills.

“Hello, stranger.”

Reign brings her back to the here and now by taking her hand.

“Hey,” she says softly, running a thumb over Reign’s knuckles, “How are you feeling?”

“It’s pinching here and there,” Reign says trying to smile which ends somewhat in a grimace.

“Don’t be like that, Reign,” Alex scolds her gently, “Not with me.”

Her heart is breaking a little bit every time she looks at her girlfriend. By now, Reign is a shadow of herself. Her skin turned an unhealthy grey, she lost so much weight that that in itself would be a cause for concern, her lips are chapped and most of all, she put her pride and snark down which she usually carries like a sword and shield.

Some days, it moves Alex close to tears only to look at her. No one says a word for a couple of moments then Reign inhales a rattling breath: “I’ve been thinking. When all of this is over, you could lead a normal life.”

Alex, by all means, is taken completely by surprise. “What are you talking about?”

“You and Sam and the child can be a normal family.”

Alex cannot believe one word she is hearing: “You are part of that family, Reign.”

The Worldkiller smiles sadly: “Alexandra …”

“No, cut that bullshit,” she says heatedly, tightening her hold on her girlfriend’s hands, “I don’t want normal. I want you. I want you in my life.” There are tears loud and clear in her voice. “You don’t get to start this stupid good-bye nonsense in the middle of the night, you don’t get to tell me I should imagine a life without you.”

Reign doesn’t say anything, just looks sadder and sadder as if she already lost hope. Alex presses their foreheads together: “I’m not giving up on you. And you don’t get to give up on yourself either.” Reign wraps her hands around Alex’ wrists. “I love you, Reign,” Alex sobs, spilling warm tears on Reign’s cold fingers, “I cannot lose you. I cannot endure that again. Not a second time.”

“I’ll never leave your side,” the broken Worldkiller whispers against her lips, “Whatever happens, I’ll be always there.”

“Promise,” Alex sobs harder.

Reign kisses her sweet and deep, leaving all the words in her lover’s mouth she cannot say out loud. Not even now.

 

* * *

 

 

 

“We need to talk,” Lena says the next morning while Alex tries not to spill coffee in their newest culture dish.

“Good morning to you, too.”

Lena comes straight to business: “If Reign’s condition doesn’t improve today, she should be put into a coma.”

At those words Alex spills the hot coffee on her shirt: “Shit,” she shoves the mug between a microscope and an elutriation system, “Are you crazy?”

“People asked me that quite a few times in my life and I can assure you I am not,” Lena says, crossing her arms.

“In her condition she might not wake up again. Did you think about that?”

Lena rolls her eyes: “As if I didn’t. But we need more time,” she waves her hand in the direction of the overall disarray in the lab, “We need more time to find the cure among all this chaos. And Reign is not giving us that time currently.”

Alex hides her face in her hands. Damn. Shit. Fuck. Lena is right. She takes a deep breath, runs her hands over her tired face a couple of times and takes a deep breath: “If nothing changes until this evening, we’ll do it.”

“Good call,” Lena says and then they get back to work.

As expected nothing changes.

At five, Alex walks into the ready room, a tight knot in her throat and boulders in her stomach. Ruby begins to cry the second Alex says _coma_ and Sam looks like someone punched her in the gut and bobbed her on the head at the same time.

Two hours later, their little group is standing around Reign’s bed and watches how Alex prepares the barbiturate drug that will send the Worldkiller in a deep slumber.

“It will be like sleeping, right?” Reign says weakly.

“You almost sound happy,” Kara gives her shoulder a light squeeze.

“I haven’t really slept in weeks. A nap is just the thing I need.”

Alex isn’t sure if it is an act or if Reign really still treats her life-threatening condition as a minor inconvenience.

“Are you ready?” she asks.

Reign nods.

Sam puts a hand against her twin’s left cheek: “We love you. Don’t forget that when you’re napping.”

Reign manages to give her a lopsided smile: “You better be here when I wake up to remind me about it.”

“Don’t sleep too long then, Rei,” Ruby pipes up from the food of the bed.

Sam drops kisses on Reign’s forehead and against her temple: “We will be here.”

Alex is satisfied with her work and pushes the small plunger down that will pump the drug through the line and into the Worldkiller’s bloodstream: “It won’t take long.”

“Good,” Reign grins, “I can’t wait to relax.”

There are a hundred words remaining unspoken between them. Words Reign thought about sharing with the humans and Kara, words that could have made this better. Words of _reconciliation_ for Lena, words of _sisterhood_ and _pride_ for Kara and most of all those words of _love_ Reign never quite grasped for her family. Even though they are all telling her it will be _alright_ , she cannot shake the feeling off that maybe this will be the last time she sees all their faces.

Alex leans over the bed to give Reign a soft kiss: “Don’t forget your promise.”

Reign slips into unconsciousness with a tiny smile on her face and Alex on her lips.

 

* * *

 

 

 

On the third day of Reign’s induced coma, Alex and Lena come to the conclusion that attempting to stop the decay of the Worldkiller’s body is a fruitless endeavor.

Together with Sam they stand on the balcony during sunset, each sipping on a glass of whisky when they come clean to the CFO.

“Our only chance is to reverse the split,” Lena says matter of factly. Like always she is the last sane person around and the only one capable of speaking out truths no one else wants to admit. Unsure, Lena and Alex look at Sam.

“You would have to share a body again.”

“Are you seriously asking me?” Sam exclaims with wide eyes, “Of course, I would share a body with Reign again.”

“Good,” Lena says and drains her glass, “I need more of this.”

She leaves the couple alone on the balcony to get a refill.

“I wasn’t sure you would say yes …I mean …of course you would …but,” Alex stutters, takes a sip and continues, “This is all my fault anyways.”

Sam almost chokes on her own sip: “What?”

Alex stares intently into the amber liquid, her cheeks and tone covered in shame: “I know it’s kinda stupid but …but I wished for it.” Sam only stares at her, mouth hanging open. “Not for Reign becoming this sick,” Alex is quick to add after seeing her girlfriend’s expression, “But I wanted you to have your own bodies,” she shrugs, a sulk etching into her face, “Look where that got her.”

Sam lets out a short, hard huff: “Alex Danvers, you listen to me now,” she puts her hands in her hips, barely able to believe that she has to spell it out to the redhead like this: “You are not responsible for what happened to Reign. And you weren’t responsible for what happened to me last year either.”

“But – “ Alex tries to say something.

“You must stop always blaming yourself for everything,” Sam cuts her off, tone swinging between pleading and total seriousness. She takes the whisky glass from her girlfriend’s hands and wraps her in a hug: “You cannot always safe everyone either, Alex.” Alex exhales against her neck. “I know how desperately you want that and that you always think you must fix everything,” she whispers in her ear, “But not even Kara and Reign can do that. And although you are the second most wonderful human I know, you’re a human.”

She feels Alex chuckle: “I’m the second most wonderful human?”

Sam leans back a bit and shrugs: “It’s hard to win against Ruby. I mean – “

Alex cuts her off with a kiss. It’s easy to get lost in the moment and the short pleasure coming from something so simple as kissing the person you love, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that after thirty seconds of trading innocent kisses Alex’ tongue is in Sam’s mouth, hands are wandering, and bodies are moving closer. Sam knows that Alex is partly kissing her because she is scared. Alex knows that Sam is kissing her partly to not lose the little hope she still has left.

“Seriously? I leave you alone for two minutes and this is what happens?”

Alex lets out a startled yelp, her face turns the color of very ripe cherries and she hides in Sam’s arms.

“Lena!” Sam scolds, though there is a big, genuine smile flitting across her face.

“I’m going home now,” Lena says with twinkling eyes, “And I advise you to not have sex with your daughter sleeping one foot above you.”

“Go away,” Alex grumbles embarrassed, not moving her head from the spot under Sam’s chin.

 

* * *

 

 

 

The next day is way less cheerful than the boozy evening and considerably dampens the collective mood again.

For two days, Alex and Lena do everything with the Harun-El they can think of: melting it, pulverizing it, burning it and turning it into gas. At some point Sam joked that she probably consumed half the Harun-El in one form or another by now. It could be seen as either good or bad that nothing had an effect on very _human_ Sam. Currently, she is lying in a bed next to Reign because after making sure that the Harun-El has no effect, the substance has to be washed out of Sam’s system. In case anything does work after all, Alex and Lena don’t want to risk any interaction between the cure and the remains of the proto-remedies that didn’t work. Sam is transfixed by the rhythmic rise and fall of Reign’s chest, caused by the respirator. Together with the monotone beeping of the heart monitor, the sight makes Sam slightly sleepy.

 

.

 

In the lab, Alex and Lena stand in front of the last remains they have of the Harun-El.

“Any final idea?”

Alex has been racking her brain for hours. If they fail now, they have nothing left of the stone to try again. And then Reign will die. The thought blocks everything else out in her head. She cannot think straight anymore. She buries her head in her hands.

“I don’t know. We tried everything. I don’t know,” she stammers.

“There must be something else. Something we haven’t thought about, yet,” Lena insists, pacing up and down in front of the miserable redhead.

 

.

 

Sam’s eyes are flitting shut now and again, her breathing calms down so much that it begins to match the monotone rhythm of the respirator. She almost fell asleep when suddenly something feels off. The beeping that lulled her in just a second ago begins to escalate. She snaps her eyes open. Reign is lying motionless in the bed the same way she has since the induced coma but the curve on the heart monitor is going crazy and the beeping is escalating into a frenzy. The next second, she jumps out of the bed.

“No, no, no,” she shouts, rushing to her twin’s side.

Reign is having a heart-attack.

 

.

 

Simultaneously, Lena’s and Alex’ phones start to chime startling them both. Alex is the first to pull hers out.

“Shit. It’s the heart monitor. Shit, shit, shit.”

Lena’s face is as white as a sheet, as she looks at her phone: “She is experiencing ventricular fibrillation. Alex, we have to do something now!”

In a rush of anger and panic, Alex smashes her phone against the far side of the lab where it crashes into a hydraulic press and shatter on the floor. Thunderstruck, Alex stares at the press whereas Lena continues to gesture wildly and shout at her.

“Pressure,” she whispers.

“She is …what?” Lena comes to an abrupt halt.

Alex whirls around to her: “Pressure is the only thing we didn’t try. Maybe if we condense the Harun-El enough, we can inverse its effect.”

“Alex …are you sure?”

“It’s the only chance we have left,” she says springing back into motion. While she fumbles with the little bit that is left of the Rock of Yuda Kal, she screams: “Kara! Kara, where are you? I need you!”

The next moment, the papers strewn all over the lap rustle, there is a blur and Kara is standing next to her: “I’m here what can I do?”

 

.

 

While Alex, Lena and Kara work as fast as they can, Sam stares at her dying twin frozen in shock. She doesn’t know what to do, the fear is paralyzing her, and she is torn between staying by Reign’s side or running out of the room to find Alex. Finally, she takes a step forward, her hands flying to Reign’s pale face: “Don’t give up, Reign. You have to stay with me, ok? Don’t leave me. Don’t leave us.”

She only realizes she is crying when she sees the tears falling on Reign’s cheeks. Over and over again she strokes her sister’s cheeks, holds onto her shoulders and implores her to stay strong, to stay alive. The erratic beeping of the heart monitor doesn’t stop. No one comes to turn it off. With a sudden wave of nausea, the thought hits her that Reign is dying. Actually _dying_. And she cannot do anything.

“Alex!” she screams into the empty room, “Alex, please!” She is breaking out into uncontrollable sobs: “I need help. Please, please, please.”

The next second, the beeping stops, is replaced by another kind of high-pitched sound. Long and final. Through the tears, Sam can barely see the flat line on the heart monitor. She feels like her own heart stopped beating, too, she is trembling and gasping and shaking Reign.

“Reign? Come on! Don’t do this! Reign!”

But it’s to no avail.

 

.

 

“You have to pull the lever down as much as possible,” Alex explains to Kara who nods at anything her sister says.

The last piece of the Harun-El is wedged under the hydraulic press just waiting for the strength of a Kryptonian to turn it into a miracle.

“Alex, Kara!”

They whirl around to Lena who is stifling a sob behind her hand: “Reign’s heart stopped beating.”

Alex tastes bile rising in her throat and barely manages to force it back down: “Do it, Kara! Now!”

Kara grabs the lever and pulls down with all the power her muscles have to offer.

 

.

 

Reign wakes up in a place she hasn’t seen for over a year.

The dark valley. She is confused to why she is here when this prison of hers shouldn’t even exist anymore. It’s darker than she can remember it, so dark in fact that she cannot see her hand in front of her face. Her hand that feels strangely light, her whole body even. Light and transparent. Without thinking she takes a step forward. The next moment, a blinding light flares up somewhere in the distance.

“Did you finally return home, Reign?” a warm voice echoes between the trees. It sounds familiar and yet strangely unfamiliar.

“Who are you?” she asks, blinking her eyes against the brightness.

“Have you really forgotten us?” Another voice answers her.

For some reason, Reign looks down at herself. She is in her suit. The old one. Hers. The screaming skull of the Worldkillers is splayed proudly across her chest like it has always been. The voices conjure up memories inside her of a wild and violent past, of a mission, a trinity. Of _sisters_.

“Welcome home, Reign.” Purity purrs.

“We waited so long for you,” Pestilence says softly.

 

.

 

Sam collapsed on top of Reign and cries and cries and cries. All their talk about _cures_ and _remedies_ and _better_ _times_ seems like a cruel joke to her now. Reign is dead and gone and will never open her eyes again no matter how long Sam will shake and shout at her. A part deeply inside of her died the moment Reign went limp in her arms and if Sam can be sure of one thing right now, it is that she will feel this hole, the absence of the soul that completed hers for so long, for the rest of her life.

 

.

 

“Pull harder, Kara! Come on!” Alex shouts and her sister’s muscles bulge and scream at the command.

“Almost there. Almost there,” she pants.

Suddenly, the room explodes in a white flash, Kara is jolted backwards, and Alex and Lena cannot see a thing.

“Did it work?” Kara groans from the ground.

“I cannot see …damn …” Alex blinks her eyes rapidly.

Lena on the other hand shielded her eyes right on time and takes a tentative step closer towards the press. She gasps: “I think it worked!”

The three stare wide eyed and with open mouths at the press. Kara really did it. Instead of the glimmering black stone, a stone not bigger than a pebble and pure as freshly fallen snow lies in its place.

“You created white Kryptonite,” Kara says in awe.

Alex is the first to scramble back into motion. “We have no time for that.”

Together with Lena, both equipped with safety gear, she gets the stone out of the press and puts it in carefully into a beaker. “Lend me your heat-gaze,” she says to her sister. Kara nods.

 

.

 

Reign is standing indecisively in the dark valley.

“This is not my home.”

“Of course, it is,” Purity laughs.

“It has always been,” Pestilence says warmly.

Reign narrows her eyes. Are they right? She takes another step forward. She doesn’t get further than that though because her cloak is stuck in something. Confused she looks down. It’s a child’s hand.

“Where are you going, Rei?”

“Who are you?”

Reign feels like she should remember this small, open face but she can’t. And the light that continues to shine bright and welcoming in the distance is warm and she is so tired. She wants to lie down somewhere and sleep.

“You know who I am,” the child says, a smile stretching from ear to ear over her round face, “Come with me. They are all waiting for us.”

The child points behind them into pitch black darkness.

“No …” Reign says unsure, looking back to the light. It’s calling for her and she wants to follow it. “I …”

The child tugs on her hand again: “Mommy and Mama are so sad without you. And I will be sad, too.”

Reign looks into her wide brown eyes and is stuck.

 

.

 

“Is that enough?” Kara pants bend over and hands resting on her knees.

“That’s perfect, baby, “ Lena says, handing Alex a syringe, “You got this, Alex. It’s not to late.”

“I know. I know. I know,” Alex chants hectically.

She pulls the plunger back and the white liquid surges into the syringe.

“Go!” Lena says, pushes at her shoulder and then Alex is flying out of the lab as if her life depends on it.

Lena helps Kara back to her feet and they follow Alex at a less neck-breaking speed. They can her Alex shouting and screaming at people to get out of her way the whole time.

“This has to work,” Lena mumbles, grabbing Kara’s hand to keep herself from shaking.

 

.

 

Alex bursts so fast into the med bay that she hits her shoulder and hip in the frame, but she doesn’t feel any pain or anything at all really because the sight in front of her makes her blood run cold. Sam is clinging to Reign’s lifeless body, tears are rushing down her face and Alex never heard someone in so much pain. She lifts her head, looks at her as if her whole world has ended and Alex’ heart breaks for her over and over again.

“She’s dead …Alex …she ….she died,” Sam sobs hysterically and that is all it takes for Alex to close the distance between them because – no – Reign will not die.

She has a final say in that matter. The syringe clasped tightly in her hand she comes to a slithering stop next to Sam: “Do you trust me?”

Without hesitation, Sam nods and Alex sinks the syringe deep into her neck.

 

.

 

Sam doesn’t know how much time passed when she regains her senses.

She remembers that one second, she was holding onto her dead twin and the next Alex injected something into her neck. Her eyes flutter open. Everything is dark around her, or mostly dark.

“Reign?” she asks hesitantly into the shadows.

Her heart is hammering so loud in her chest, it sounds like a drum in the otherwise silent med bay. For a couple of seconds, she gets no answer. Her heart first contracts painfully and then plummets straight into her stomach and –

“ **I’m here**.”

“Oh, thank God,” she sniffs.

Never ever in her life has she been so happy and relieved to hear Reign’s voice in her head. Her gaze drifts through the semi-darkness. She can make out Kara and Lena folded uncomfortably in two chairs. Ruby is sleeping in the bed next to them. And lastly, she spots Alex, sitting right next to her, tears streaming silently down her face. Sam lifts a hand to cup her cheek: “She is here. Everything is good.”

Alex presses a hand to her mouth to keep the sob in and presses her nose in the crook of Sam’s neck. Although it’s muffled, Sam hears her mumbling over and over again: “Oh God.” And “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you”

 

* * *

 

 

 

A week later, Ruby and Alex are home alone in the suburbs.

April is in full swing and this morning Ruby proudly showed her the crocuses she planted with Reign a while ago.

“Where does the water glass go? Left, or right?” Ruby is holding up two glasses, looking with a hard thinking-face at Alex who is putting plates down.

They are setting the table because they invited everyone over for dinner. And that means _everyone_. Kara and Lena will bring the food. Winn, J’onn and M’yrnn handled dessert and Sam is in charge of the wine. They don’t expect the other for at least two hours, but Sam should have been home already. Alex slides her phone back into the back pocket of her jeans. No new messages. That doesn’t necessarily mean something _bad_.

After Sam and Reign were reunited, things went back to normal surprisingly fast. Sam went back to talking to herself. Reign went to back to being her snarky consciousness, demolisher of hot-sauce and Alex’ panties. The two went back to bickering like an old married couple and Alex has never been so happy to hear them argue.

“I can never remember. Left?” Alex says.

“You’re the adult,” Ruby grins, setting the glasses down on the right side of the plates, “Aren’t you supposed to know this stuff?”

“Hey, I know how to kill… uhm …make someone talk only by using my pinky finger,” Alex defends herself, “ A woman can’t know everything.”

“Yeah. Yeah,” Ruby teases her. Before they can continue their banter, the front door opens, and another kind of argument reaches them.

“For the hundredth time, Reign. Dangling people from the edge of buildings is not a legal way to make them sign contracts.”

With her coat and shoes still on, Sam walks into the living room: “She’s driving me crazy. Remind me why I agreed to share a body with her again?” Sam says rolling her eyes.

“Because you love her,” Ruby says.

“That must be it,” Sam agrees with a huff but smiling nonetheless.

“Looks like we totally got the wine covered for tonight,” Alex says, whistling approvingly because, yeah, Sam is carrying more wine into the kitchen than they could probably drink in a whole week. Together they put the white wine in the fridge and then Alex properly greets her girlfriend with a hug and a peck on the lips.

“We thought you would be home earlier.”

Sam is playing with the collar of Alex’ navy-blue shirt: “Lena and Winn called right when I put the wine in the car.”

“What did they want?” Ruby asks from her position perched on the kitchen counter.

A telling grin spreads on Sam’s face: “Well …” she drawls and wriggles out of Alex’ hold. “You remember the Ashtar?”

“Sure. That symbol of Yuda Kal. It looked really cool.” Alex nods her head.

“Reign and I thought so, too. And its meaning is powerful and Yuda Kal herself, too. So, we got together with Lena and Winn …” she trails off again.

“Ugh, mom!” Ruby exclaims, impatiently bouncing on the spot, “Tell us!”

Sam begins to slowly unbutton her blouse: “They made me a new suit.”

Both Ruby’s and Alex’ mouths fall open. There, right across Sam’s chest is the Ashtar plastered, clean and white like the white Kryptonite that saved Reign’s life.

“Oh my God, mom!” Ruby shouts and jumps from the counter her eyes shining with excitement: “This is so cool! This is the coolest ever!”

“Right?” Sam smiles proudly.

“It looks really good on you,” Alex joins in, maybe a teeny tiny less excited than her daughter: “You finally have a family crest.”

Ruby is seconds away from fainting: “I didn’t even think of that! It’s the best!” The teenager cannot stop bouncing: “Do you think one day it will be as famous as the El Mayarah?”

“Who knows,” Alex says a little lost in thought, “Maybe.”

“I wish it will be!” Ruby grins then she wraps her mothers in a big hug. While Alex puts her arms around her daughter and kisses Sam again she thinks that sometimes dreams better remain exactly what they are: a dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone is still reading this, please accept this huge ass chapter as my humble apology.  
> As always I hope you liked the story and it would mean a lot to me seeing some of your thoughts in the comment section. Or Kudos. Or a smiley. All of it makes me happy :)


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